The 20th edition of the BPGC Open, which gets under way at the par 6189-yard from Wednesday. The Rs 5 lakh event, to be co-sponsored by Standard Chartered, will be the year's last tournament on the Wills Sport Golf Tour and promises a keen fight.

Mhow's Mukesh Kumar calls it ``his course'' probably because some of his best performances on the tour have come here. And the defending champion is ready for some more.

``I have not been playing as well as I expected to but playing here always brings out the best in me,'' said Mukesh Kumar. However, Mukesh Kumar, who has been the winner here forthe last two successive years, will have some formidable names to conquer, as also the course.

Shiv Prakash -- who had led the Mahindra golf rankings for eight tournaments and Lucknow's Vijay Kumar -- last season's Golfer of the Year -- and two-time Indian Open winner Ali Sher, to name a few.

In fact, Vijay Kumar, smarting under his second successive one-stroke loss in the last event, would want to make amends. And with the kind of form he has shown, he could spoil Mukesh Kumar's party.

However, some well known names will be missing. Ghei, who left for his honeymoon, has excused himself and so have Jyoti Randhawa and Arjun Atwal. Randhawa will be taking a few days off before leaving for the Omega Tour while Atwal will be seen in action on the Australian tour.

Nevertheless, a few stars missing on the horizon will surely not empty the sky.

Against all odds

The prize-money of the BPGC Open may not be much to talk about, but it's history sure is impressive. One of the first professionaltournaments to be held in the country, the tournament is the only one on the Indian tour to be sponsored by a club.

This comes even as most tournament sponsors around the world, especially in golfing circles in Asia, are pulling out due to the global economic crisis.

``We have always seen this club more as a recreation centre for it's members,'' said newly elected club president Vilas Chitnis who, along with his fellow-members, is on a mission to make BPGC a place for quality golf.

There were doubts raised about the viability of holding these professional tournaments as the club had invested a lot of money on the development of the course and clubhouse facilities but made no earnings as such from the events.

``We want golf lovers to come and watch professionals play. It is a very good way to learn golf,'' said Captain Dhruba Bose, a committee member who is also a part of the course upgradation committee.

Apart from this, the club has kept up the tempo on the amateur circuit and have already starteda junior programme to groom tomorrow's golfers.

Said tournament committee member Kishore Musale: ``We don't have many professional golfers from Mumbai. We aim to change that.''