Varanasi tees up for the DP World PGTI NexGen golf tournament at BLW's Bareka course

Varanasi's sporting calendar has a fresh highlight this week, with the Bareka Golf Course at Banaras Locomotive Works (BLW) hosting the DP World PGTI NexGen golf tournament from June 16 to 18. Conducted by the Professional Golf Tour of India, the event brings the country's up-and-coming professionals to the city's well-kept fairways, with a Pro-Am curtain-raiser and a practice round leading into three days of competition and a closing prize ceremony. The NexGen series is designed as a stepping stone for emerging players, giving them a competitive platform to push towards the national and international stage. Organisers see the Varanasi leg as a boost for golf across eastern India, a region where the sport is still finding its feet, and hope it will inspire younger players to take up the game. For Varanasi, better known the world over for its ghats and temples, the tournament is another sign of the city's growing reputation as a sports destination. Local fans, meanwhile, get a rare chance to watch tournament golf up close, on a course that now finds itself on India's professional circuit.

Compiled by HelloBanaras from public sources: New Kerala