India Event Dropped By HotelPlanner Tour Due To Middle East Conflict
The HotelPlanner Tour has had to withdraw its sanctioning of an upcoming event in India with staff and players suffering travel disruption in the Middle East
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Travel disruption caused by the war in Iran has resulted in the HotelPlanner Tour withdrawing its sanctioning of an upcoming event in India.
The Indorama Ventures Open Golf Championship will take place at Kalhaar Blues & Greens Golf Club in Ahmedabad from March 12-15, but will now soley be sanctioned by the Professional Golf Tour of India.
That's due to many HotelPlanner Tour staff members and players struggling to either get out of or travel through the Middle East.
There's obviously severe travel issues across the entire Middle East with airport closures among the problems ever since the USA and Israel launched air strikes on Iran.
While sport is way down the list of priorities, the troubles have been causing issues, with eight LIV Golf players stranded in Dubai before escaping on a private jet to go and play in Hong Kong.
And there's now a problem with the first of what was scheduled to be a HotelPlanner Tour double-header in India, due to travel issues for both players and Tour staff.
The Indorama Ventures Open was added to the 2026 Road To Mallorca schedule this year to form a double-header with the DP World PGTI Open to follow the week after at Classic Golf & Country Club in Delhi.
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Both events are still taking place, and for now the PGTI Open is still sanctioned by the HotelPlanner Tour, but things may change if travel disruption around the Middle East continues.
HotelPlanner Tour statement on India
The HotelPlanner Tour said it would keep monitoring the ongoing situation with regards to the upcoming schedule of events.
A statement from the HotelPlanner Tour read:
"Due to the ongoing military action in the Middle East, HotelPlanner Tour staff and players are currently facing significant travel disruption ahead of next week’s Indorama Ventures Open Golf Championship in Ahmedabad, India, with many scheduled to travel via the Middle East.
"As a result, the decision has been taken with the Professional Golf Tour of India to withdraw the HotelPlanner Tour sanction from this event.
"The tournament will continue to be staged but will now be sanctioned solely by the Professional Golf Tour of India.
"This is an evolving situation that we will continue to monitor very closely, with assessments made on a tournament-by-tournament basis."
Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website. Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.
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