By Rahul Banerji
Anika Varma, racked up a second career ace on her way to the lead at the 50th Sacramento County Women’s Scratch Championship on Saturday.
The 16-year-old now based in California was over the moon at the feat more than her two-shot lead in the event, dotting a tweet to mark the occasion with a series of explosive emojis.
Overall, Anika leads the field by two shots at the Mather Golf Course in Sacramento, the event open to “all female golfers with a World Handicap System (WHS) Index of 5.0 or less”.
Tweeted her coach Noah Montgomery (@hitwiththetruth), “player positions from Day 1: 1. Anika Varma – leader at 6-under 66 (including an ace on 143 yard par-3, 14th); 2. Hanna Montgomery – tied-4th at 2-under 70; 3. Haley Wong – tied 26th at 4-over 76.
On her way to the 66, Anika had five birdies besides the ace for eagle against one bogey
More good news
In further good news for the talented amateur. Anika has also earned a place at next month’s 120th US Women’s Amateur Championship, which will be played at the Woodmont Country Club in Rockivlle, Maryland.
The tournament, which has a top-class field, will run from August 3 to 9 with the field going through a two-day strok-eplay competition from where the top 64 will go into the match-play section of the championship..
Tweeted the 16-year-old, “Super excited for earning a spot at 120th US women’s amateur Championship. Looking forward to some great competition and test my limits.”
“The 132-player field for the championship is being comprised entirely of exempt players due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the US Golf Association said.
“It is the first all-exempt U.S. Women’s Amateur in recent history.”
Added the USGA, “Among the USGA champions in the field is defending champion Gabriela Ruffels, of Australia, who is looking to become the first player to claim consecutive titles since current LPGA Tour standout Danielle Kang (2010-2011).”
Last year, Anika put in a spirited performance at the 71st US Girls Championship at SentryWorld, where she reached the round of 32.
Her display at the Wisconsin event were noted as Anika turned in a series of gutsy performances including taking down higher-ranked players. At that time, almost exactly a year ago, she was ranked 787th in the WAGR.
In July 2020, Anika has climbed into a position where she is among the 132 in an invited field.
Over the past two months, the young Indian has been racking up steady performances on the Cactus Tour in Arizona and Nevada.
Also read: Anika Varma falls in Round of 32 at US Girls Championship
Discover more from Tee Time Tales
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.