Ras Al Khaimah, Sep 22 (IANS) The Indian Golf Premier League (IGPL) 2026 resumes its international leg at the Al Hamra Golf Club in Ras Al Khaimah, with the IGPL Invitational 2026 marking the beginning of the second half of the season.
The three-day event, which begins on Wednesday, is the seventh tournament of the season and the sixth to be staged outside India. The tour has already travelled to Morocco twice, as well as Congo, South Africa and Mauritius, and will make one final international stop in the UAE before returning to India for the next eight events.
The tournament also marks the first event since the IGPL franchises began taking a more prominent role in the competition. Vimtra Ventures will present the event and have former Asian Tour winner Gaganjeet Bhullar in their squad.
Bhullar, an 11-time Asian Tour winner and former Asian Games medallist, headlines a strong field that also features four-time Asian Tour winner Shiv Kapur, Olympian Udayan Mane, three-time Asian Tour winner Gaurav Ghei and Asian Tour winner Chiragh Kumar.
Indian-American Manav Shah, who featured in the US Open this year, is also part of the field alongside IGPL winners Aman Raj, Sachin Baisoya and Aryan Roopa Anand.
The UAE event will also introduce several new faces to the IGPL, with Arjun Prasad, Joshua Grenville Wood and Ravi Kumar set to make their debuts. Grenville Wood was granted UAE citizenship three years ago, while Prasad arrives with a reputation as a consistent performer and winner.
UAE professional Ahmad Skaik will also be in action. Skaik won the 2025 GCC Golf Championship, claiming individual gold with a record-breaking 18-under-par score while also helping the UAE secure its first-ever team gold at the championship.
“We are delighted to be back in the UAE, which has now become a major hub for world golf. The IGPL is growing in strength with each event and is a great mix of youth and experience. We are proud to take the IGPL to world class courses like Al Hamra. We played in the UAE last year and it is great to be back here again,” said Uttam Singh Mundy, CEO of IGPL.
The Al Hamra Golf Club, managed by Troon Golf, stretches approximately 7,200 yards and has hosted European Tour events. Ryan Fox won the 2022 Ras Al Khaimah Classic at the venue, one of his early DP World Tour victories, before going on to win The Open at Royal Birkdale in 2026.
“So it’s great for the IGPL to be here and provide the youngsters to have an opportunity to play a tournament here,” Mundy added.
The UAE stop will also feature the debut of X-Golf, a new concept on the IGPL Tour. The format will be played under lights around the 18th hole at 9 pm on the final day.
The X-Golf field will be seeded from one to 10 based on teams’ performances over the first three rounds. The top seed will advance directly to the semifinals, while seeds two to 10 will be divided into three groups for round-robin competition. The three group winners will join the top seed in the semifinals, followed by the final.
Points earned through X-Golf will be accumulated throughout the season, with the standings contributing towards qualification for the Grand Finale in December.
The opening round on Wednesday will feature a shotgun start at 7:30 am, with Bhullar, Kapur and Sachin Baisoya forming the first group. Other notable combinations include Udayan Mane, Varun Parikh and Harendra Gupta in Group 3, while Chiragh Kumar joins Kartik Sharma and Danish Verma in Group 11.
Arjun Prasad will tee off alongside Raghav Chugh and Ravi Kumar in Group 13, while Grenville Wood will make his IGPL debut in Group 16 alongside Samarth Dwivedi and Mandaar S Prashar.
–IANS
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