Kolkata, November 26:

The Royal Calcutta Golf Club edged out first timers Nepal’s Gokarna Forest Golf Resort and Spa and entered the finals of the sixth edition of the McDowell’s Signature Club Golf Championship to be held in Bangkok next month.

In the regional final held at the RCGC here today, the hosts beat six other teams to grab the elite spot from the Eastern region. Played under an unique format, RCGC were represented by Akshay Butta, Gaurav Ghosh in the 0-8 handicap category, Manish Goenka and Pradeep Bhaumik in the 9-16 handicap category and Naresh Keyal and Prakash Shah in the 17-24 category. The team accumulated 1124 stableford points to finish on top. The best card in each category and the fourth best card in the six-member team formed the team’s total.

Finishing second was the first International team to take part in the event — Gokarna Forest Golf Resort and Spa from Kathmandu, Nepal — with 110 points. The Gokarna team comprised of Bejoy Moktan, Tashi Ghale, Kesang Lama, Wang Li, Subodh Thapa and Joseph Nathan.

The winners received a Srixon Driver along with the trophies. The winning club received a LG LCD Television. The runner-up received a Srixon stand bag each. The other teams in fray included Beldih and Golmuri Clubs (Jamsehdpur), Bhuvaneshwar Golf Club, Tollygunge Club and Fort William (both Kolkata).

In the skills competition, Col SDS Batth won the Kingfisher Longest Drive award on Hole No 15 and won a return ticket for himself while Manish Goenka bagged the Straightest Drive award on Hole No 5.

RCGC will join Eagleton Golf Resort (winners of Southern leg), Noida Golf Course (winners of Northern region) and BPGC (winners of Western Leg) in the final. The McDowell’s Signature Club Golf Championship 2007 brought together over 4,500 golf-ers representing 30 top golf clubs from 20 Indian cities and Nepal.