Bengaluru, Jan 18 (PTI) City golfers Shankar Gopal (handicap CAT A) and Umesh N Bhat (handicap CAT B) qualified for the Mercedes Trophy National Finals on day 3 of Bengaluru Leg after carding a Nett. Score of 72 and 74.2 respectively.

Eight qualifiers have qualified so far and will be competing in the Mercedes Trophy National Finals to be played at the Oxford Golf Resort in Pune scheduled between March 27 to 29.

The best gross winner of the day was K N Bopanna with an excellent round of 78.

The day also saw participation from Indian cricketer Syed Kirmani who tested his golf skills at the Prestige Golf Shire.

The format of play was Double Peoria. This unique format of adjusting handicaps of players levels the playing field enabling golfers to have a greater chance of qualifying for the National Finals.

A total of 322 golfers participated over the three days of qualifications for six qualification spots.

The next leg of the Mercedes Trophy will tee off at Bombay Presidency Golf Club on January 23.

The 19th edition of the MercedesTrophy will travel to eight more cities including Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Delhi, Chandigarh, Jaipur and Lucknow before returning to Pune for the National Final.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)