Kathmandu, October 26:

The qualifying tournament for the Signature Club Golf Championship is slated for Saturday here at the Le Meridien Gokarna Forest Golf Resort and Spa.

This is the first time in six years that a Nepali golf club has been included in the Indian club tournament. Six golfers of Gokarna Golf Club will qualify for November 12 semi-final round at the Royal Kolkata Golf Club. The final will be held on December 15 at Burapha Golf & Resort, Pattaya, Thailand.

Monday’s event will be the first tier of the three-tier format. The first tier is the intra-club stage where golfers from the club will play amongst each other to select a ‘Club Team’.

To reach a wider player base, there are three handicap categories 0-8 (played on Gross Stableford), 9-16 and 17-24 (played on 3/4th Nett Stableford). The winners and runners-up from each handicap category form the six-member club team.

The second stage will be the Regional Finals where club teams will battle it out amongst other clubs from the region and decide the Regional Champion Golf Club. This year, the four Regional finals will be held at the Eagleton Golf Resort, Bangalore, on October 8, Environmental Park and Training Area (Army Golf Course), New Delhi on October 15, the Royal Calcutta Golf Club, Kolkata on November 12 and the Bombay Presidency Golf Club, Mumbai on November 26.

Finally, the four Regional Champion Clubs will contest for the title in Pattaya, Thailand from

December 10-13.

Noida Golf Course is the two-time defending champions while the other finalists of the last year were Eagleton Golf Resort, the Royal Kolkata Golf Club and the US Club of Mumbai.