The 2025–26 season of the AVT Champions Tour — India’s flagship competitive circuit for senior amateur golfers aged 50 and above, featuring four events each year — held its third event of the season at Tollygunge Club in Kolkata.
The season began in June at the Karnataka Golf Association (KGA) in Bangalore with legs in Mumbai and the 4th event at Jaypee Greens, March 11-12, 2026. .
Multiple title winner Sandeep Sandhu of Chandigarh capped a tense final round with a one-shot victory at The Tollygunge Club, closing on 145 to edge Mumbai’s Harmeet Sahney (146) for the Overall Gross title. With scores tightly packed across divisions, the two-day strokeplay stop delivered excitement.
At the conclusion of the four-event AVT Tour, the top two ranked players earn berths into an international senior amateur championship. In 2023, AVT Champion Sandeep Sandhu showcased the strength of the tour by winning the Hong Kong Senior Amateur by an astonishing 12 strokes. Earlier last September, he added the individual title at the Asia-Pacific Senior Amateur, underscoring how significantly the AVT Champions Tour has helped Indian senior golfers sharpen their competitive edge.
In Category A (50–54), tennis legend Leander Paes topped the bracket with 151, just one clear of Avinash Deoskar (152). Kolkata’s own Gaurav Ghosh, the All India Senior Champion, lifted Category B (55–59) at 150, holding off Kim Sanggun (152).
David D’Souza of Bangalore continued his strong run on the tour by winning Category C (60–64) with 148, ahead of Pushpendra Rathore (151). In Category D (65–69), Vincent Pinto prevailed with 156, while Dhananjay Date (160) finished second.
The evergreen Gangesh Khaitan led Category E (70+) again, posting 155 to beat Vijay Kumar (156). In the Ladies division, Paromita Mukherjee stayed dominant with 160, finishing well clear of Pooja Ahluwalia (168).
Kolkata also claimed the Team Gross title as Gaurav Ghosh, Leander Paes, Sudeep Chitlangia and Kulvin Suri won on a Day 2 countback with 454, tying the BPGC team led by Sahney. Team Inarah took Team Nett at 420.
Sponsor Dilip Thomas announced rolling trophies for Merit List winners, including a tribute trophy in memory of Jaideep Singh, a regular participant from RCGC who passed away suddenly a few weeks prior to the tournament.
Photo – AVT
