Participants in the first India Adaptive Golf Open pose with their trophies along with members of the organising team at Bangalore Golf Club earlier this week. Image courtesy AGAF.
By Rahul Banerji
The Bangalore Golf Club this week hosted the 1st India Adaptive Golf Open, a tournament for persons with disabilities that was dominated by the experienced Viswa Vardhan Bhati.
Conducted by the NGO Adaptive Golf Alliance Foundation (AGAF), the tournament saw 19 participants from across India compete over two days at the BGC, which is commemorating its 150th year.
The field included seven individuals who were blind or suffered severe visual impairment, three with intellectual disabilities and nine with other physical or locomotor disabilities.
To qualify, players needed to be registered for an player passes issued by EDGA Golf (formerly the European Disabled Golf Association), which assigns appropriate disability classification and applicable section of Rule 25 of the Rules of Golf.
To ensure an inclusive environment and encourage participation, Adaptive Golf Alliance Foundation conducted the tournament in two sections.
Eleven participants with some experience of golf played two rounds in Stableford for which players could opt to play 18 holes and/or 9 holes for which there were separate prizes.
Fun event
The rest were new to golf for whom a fun team event was organised consisting of three holes with a Modified Scramble Format and a putting competition. Four senior BGC members served as team leaders alongside two participants each.
The Stableford formats were conducted concurrently and incorporated guidance on tournament course set up and marking provided by EDGA Golf and The R&A.
Five Karnataka based professionals including Chikkarangappa S. and S. Manoj from the PGTI and the WGAI’s Durga Nittur, Karishma Govind and Anvita Narender played in Round 2 with the participants.
Both the Stableford events were won by Noida’s Viswa Vardhan Bhati, a left-arm amputee who scored 75 points in the 18 hole and 43 points in the 9 hole Stableford.
Jaypee Greens-based Bhati is 179th in the world rankings (WR4GD) for Stableford and this was evident in the way he navigated the BGC course.
Bhati also played the Para Cricket World Cup in England in 2019. He has participated at the English Open for Golfers With Disability at Durham, UK in 2025 and the Daikin Madrid World Cup in Spain.
Solid result
Finishing close behind Bhati in both events was 13-year-old Nandan S. with 74 points (18 hole) and 38 points (9 hole).
Zion Hills-based Nandan has been playing golf since he was eight and won silver medallist at the Special Olympics Macau Masters Continental League Team event this May.
He has been a regular at the Indian Golf Union’s South Zone events.
The race for second runner up placings saw some changes. The 18 Hole format saw Bangalore’s Ankush Saha, a Special Olympian, finish third with 68 points.
Saha won gold at the Special Olympics in 2014 and silver in 2015. He also participated in the 2023 Special Olympics World Games in Berlin, winning a golf medal in individual skills. Saha also runs full and half marathons.
Both Bhati and Saha have been nominated by the AGAF for the Czech Disabled Masters in Prague between June 23 and 26, supported by Genesis IT Innovations.
Lt Col Vipin Bais took the second runner up trophy in the 9 hole event. A serving Army officer disabled in action, Lt Col Bais was introduced to the game by Adaptive Golf Alliance Foundation at its first Discovery Event at the To The Tee Golf Academy in Bangalore.
Team success
The Fun Team event saw the team led by BGC management committee member Arjun Tallam taking top spot with 58 points. Senior BGC member C. Sundar and his team were second with 48 points.
Category prizes were also presented for best performance in a disability. These went to Nandan (Intellectual), Sundeep Rao (Visually Impaired/Blind) and V.V. Bhati (Amputee/Locomotor).
BGC captain Ravi Kumar Raju said the club had always promoted the game and encouraged its growth and as a special initiative for its 150th year, it was proud to host the an event for persons with disability as part of its social outreach.
AGAF director Chandrashekar Kini said that the organisation was very pleased to have conducted the India Adaptive Open.
AGAF was set up only six months ago, and interacting closely with EDGA Golf and the R&A, it had put in place signal initiatives to introduce the disabled to golf in various ways including coaching and other support initiatives.
The AGAF team includes besides Kini, an experienced TARS Level
3 Rules official and rules instructor for golf, para trap shooter Balendu Singh, and Kavery Muthanna, also a TARS Level 3 Rules official.
Details of the organisation and its initiatives can be found on its website www.adaptivegolfalliance.com.
Also read: Young winners impress at US Kids Golf Indian Championship
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