By Rahul Banerji
Top Indian woman amateur Anika Varma finished second at the 71st California Junior Girls’ State Championship in Monterey last Friday.
The California-based Indian went down 2&3 to San Jose’s top seed Kiara Romeo in the final of the match-play decider at the Monterey Peninsula Country Club as briefly reported earlier.
The tournament is conducted annually by the Northern California Golf Association.
Anika beat Ellie Bushnell in the semi-finals, Naomi Danner in the quarters, Skyler May in the Round of 16, and Sydney Sung in the Round of 32.
This was after the 17-year-old, who trains with Gaganjeet Bhullar’s coach Noah Montgomery, qualified through two stroke play rounds.
The NCGA said on its website, “The no.1 seed, Romero had to use every part of her game to hold off Varma.
“While Romero took an early 2-up lead through just the first four holes, Varma responded with back-to-back birdies on holes 5 and 6 to re-tie the match.
“The two stayed tied until the par-5 10th hole, where Romero made eagle after reaching the green in two and draining a 12-footer.
“On the par-4 13th, Romero’s lead grew to 2-up when Varma missed the fairway right and found herself in a waste bunker.
Critical bogey
“While Varma’s second shot out of the bunker hit the green, it kept rolling into a greenside bunker, leading to a bogey. Romero, meanwhile, got on and two-putted for par.
“I knew coming in that I had to be on top of my game,” said Anika, India’s no. 1 ranked amateur female prior to her shift to the US two years ago.
“Made some saves today, but in the finals making saves isn’t enough. I needed to be making birdies and pars.”
Anika is a 17-year-old senior at Granite Bay High who has already verbally committed to the University of Oregon.
“It could’ve been better. But you always take the positives and just keep moving forward.”
The previous week, Anika played the first women’s championship of the Southwestern Amateur, bringing in a respectable joint 19th place finish in the 68-strong field.
The competition sees participation from all the major zonal conferences from around the United States
The SW Am, in its 106th edition, was played at Desert Mountain in Scottsdale, Arizona, where Anika has been honing her skills on the Cactus Tour.
The women’s competition was won by Ching-Tzu Chen of Taiwan with a level par 284 aggregate.. She is also a student at University of Oregon where Anika will shift post high school.
Also read: Anika Varma falls in Round of 32 at US Girls Championship
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