By DLF G&CC. Designer: Gary Player, 2015; Course Type: Technical; Par: 72; Length: 7,380 yards; Water Hazards: 6 in play; Fairways: Celebration Bermuda; Rough: Celebration Bermuda; Greens: Bermuda Mini Verde.
Course Overview. After a couple of years at the tight, tree-lined sub-7,000 yard Delhi Golf Club, this event moved to Gary Player’s new course in 2017 as the track made its bow on the DP World Tour.
In stark contrast to the previous venue, Player has carved a brute out of the Aravalli Hills which stretches to 7,657 yards in length from the Gold tees, however, as per previous years, the professionals will be playing from some of the forward tees this week, meaning that the parkland-style track will play as a 7,380 yard, Par 72 with the potential for different tees to be used as the tournament progresses.
Built to the latest golf design standards including a full sub-air system, the layout features severe elevation changes, eye-catching bunkering and large, undulating greens.
Fairways are fairly narrow and water features heavily on 6 holes including the par-3 5th which is to an island green as the front 9 (the ‘Lake 9’) meanders around the 2 lakes that the course flanks. The back 9 (the ‘Quarry 9’) is the longest of the two and contains the holes with the most elevation change. Bermudagrass has been used throughout the construction with Mini Verde the strain of choice on the greens.
Tournament Stats. We’ve published some key player statistics for this week’s Indian Open that will help to shape a view on players who may go well this week: Current Form | Course Form | First Round Leader Stats | Combined Form Stats.
Course Winners.
- PGTI: 2022: Varun Parikh (-11)
- DP World Tour: 2019: Stephen Gallacher (-9, 150/1); 2018: Matt Wallace (-11, 66/1); SSP Chawrasia (-10, 80/1).
Predictor Model. Our published Predictor Model is available here. As always you can build your own model using the variables available.
Weather Forecast. The latest weather forecast for the area is here.
The tournament should enjoy sunny conditions with hot temperatures (low 90s Fahrenheit) and light winds expected, with nothing more than 5-10mph in the forecast.
Tournament Trends & Key Factors. Stats from the 3 winners here at DP World Tour level gives us a little more insight into the requirements for this test:
- 2019: Stephen Gallacher (-9). 291 yards (32nd), 66.1% fairways (45th), 76.4% greens in regulation (12th), 41.2% scrambling (35th), 1.62 putts per GIR (2nd)
- 2018: Matt Wallace (-11) . 294 yards (18th), 82.1% fairways (9th), 66.7% greens in regulation (31st), 58.3% scrambling (5th), 1.58 putts per GIR (3rd)
- 2017: SSP Chawrasia (-10). 266 yards (67th), 76.8% fairways (12th), 66.7% greens in regulation (31st), 75% scrambling (1st), 1.71 putts per GIR (7th)
With just 8 players finishing under par in 2017, 15 players beating that mark in 2018 and 26 in red numbers in 2019, and with double-bogeys a very regular occurrence on even the better players’ scorecards, this event is a true test of patience and concentration with danger lurking on virtually every shot.
The greens are huge, particularly on the back-9, and players who are missing the putting surfaces in regulation need to have a razor-sharp short game to save them from dropping shots. The greens themselves are excellent quality, however it’s critical to find the right portion of putting surfaces given the undulations, so quality lag putting is also an important strength to possess.
Incoming Form. Of the 4 course winners, PGTI winner Varun Parikh had the most tangible recent effort to his name having finished 3rd 6 weeks before at the PGTI Players Championship.
The last time the DP World Tour visited these parts, Stephen Gallacher won off the back of 4 straight missed cuts, and you have to go all the way back to the Dunhill Links the previous October before you find a top-10 finish to his name.
It’s fair to say that the incoming form of the other two winners was subtle at best. Matt Wallace had recorded his best finish of the season on his previous start in Qatar when finishing 19th a fortnight before winning here; likewise Chawrasia had also recorded his best result of the season on his last start, 35th at the World Super 6 in Perth:
- 2022: Varun Parikh: 37/MC/MC/21/23/29/52/53/MC/30/3/20/MC
- 2019: Stephen Gallacher: 44/10/70/29/35/60/MC/67/MC/MC/MC/MC
- 2018: Matt Wallace: 59/4/18/54/34/30/38/32/37/MC/44/19
- 2017: SSP Chawrasia: MC/MC/34/71/47/1/MC/70/MC/MC/MC/35
Course Form: Of the 4 course winners, only Stephen Gallacher in 2019 had any tangible course form, having finished 29th on debut and 7th the year before his win:
- 2022: Varun Parikh: MC
- 2019: Stephen Gallacher: 29/7
- 2018: Matt Wallace: Debut
- 2017: SSP Chawrasia: Debut
The key aspect to focus on this week in my view is the difficulty of the course and the fact that players need to be 100% focussed and prepared for this tough test from the outset.
Some players relish a grind, whereas others don’t have the mental approach to shrug off the inevitable bogeys or worse and they can quickly spiral downwards once the first few mistakes are made. For me, focussing on those players who have proven in the past that they can grind out a score on some of golf’s tougher tests is no bad attribute, however equally those players who are comfortable with the surroundings and the hot conditions may also be at an advantage.
My Final Hero Indian Open Tips Are As Follows:
