Shiv Kapur Emirates Amateur Golf League ambassador

Shiv Kapur, one of India’s leading professional golfers, has been appointed the brand ambassador of the newly formed Emirates Amateur Golf League (EAGL).

The 2002 Asian Games gold medalist and a five-time winner in worldwide circuits says the Emirates Amateur Golf League (EAGL) has ‘the potential of growing the game by shaking it up a bit’

The 39-year-old is a three-time champion on the Asian Tour and was the Rookie of the Year on the Tour in 2005. The Dubai resident also won twice on the European Challenge Tour, including the 2013 Challenge Tour Grand Final that was played in the city.

More appropriately for a multi-team championship like the EAGL, Kapur was part of the history-making Indian team at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, where he won the individual gold medal. Later, in 2013, he was the brain behind the Premier Golf League, which was based on the successful Indian Premier League model and featured major champions Darren Clarke, Angel Cabrera, Michael Campbell and Shaun Micheel.

The EAGL, which is a first-of-its-kind franchise-owned amateur league tournament in the world, was launched in the UAE on January 20. Sanctioned by the Emirates Golf Federation and backed by Asia Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC), the EAGL is conceptualized by Dubai businessman and passionate golfer, Sudesh Aggarwal. It will feature eight teams in a round-robin team format, followed by semi-finals and finals and is scheduled to be played on four world-class UAE courses from November 2021.

“It’s an honour to be associated with a project that is as unique as the Emirates Amateur Golf League and has the potential of growing the game by shaking it up a bit,” said Kapur, who is now attached to The Els Club in Dubai Sports City.

“Having done something on similar lines, albeit for professionals, I have a fair understanding of what is required to make a league like this successful. I have seen many good things that the organisers are planning to do. It’s certainly going to be very exciting for the amateur golfers, who form the core of our game. Things like live broadcast of amateur events at this level has never been tried before, but it could become a unique selling point of the EAGL.

“I will be working closely with the organisers and bringing in my expertise as a professional who has played across the globe. The sustainability of the league will depend on the value that team owners and sponsors get, and I hope that my inputs can make that happen.”

Aggarwal was delighted to have the experience of Kapur by his side.

“Shiv is a very well-respected player in professional golf with a wealth of experience. He also has a very sharp business acumen and was deeply involved with something similar to the EAGL in the past. We could not have asked for a better brand ambassador than him,” said Aggarwal.

“It’s all coming together nicely for EAGL and we have made a lot of progress since our launch event on January 20. We are now starting the process of selling the teams. We have received plenty of interest and will hopefully have team owners for all eight teams before the end of the summer months.”

Each team will comprise a squad of 24 players. They will play a total of nine rounds and these will be contested by 12 chosen players from each team in various match play formats. The League is open only to players who have index handicap of 14 or better. They will have to register with the EAGL Players Pool to be considered by a franchise.