By Rahul Banerji
Bangalore’s Vedika Bhansali turned in a superb final round to get into the top four of the Girls 7 years category of the US Kids Golf World Championships in Pinehurst on Saturday.
As many as four Indians finished in the top six of the final placings in their respective categories at courses in and around Pinehurst, North Carolina.
An upcoming talent, Vedika is coached by former India pro Rahul Ganapathy. She was joined in a fourth-place finish by Nihaal Cheema (Boys 6) and Ojaswini Saraswat (Girls 10).
Adding to the fine showing were Kabir Goyal (T6, Boys 8) and Shambhavi Chaturvedi (T15, Girls 11). Later this year, Vedika will play in US Kids Golf India Tour in Bangalore to be run by Ganapathy.
Vedika picked up four shots in her final round of 3-under 33 as she moved from T10 to T4 at Midland Country Club.
Japan’s Emi Minami was the runaway winner in the category, going under par on all three days including a 6-under 30 and a 4-under 32 on the final two days to total 12-under 96. Ahana Shah (42) finished T-23 in the same section.
Late blip
Chandigarh’s Nihaal dropped shots on his last two holes but still carded a level par 36 in the final nine-hole round,
He totalled 1-under 107 and ended fourth in the Boys 6 Category, as American Jaxon Callon (34) took the top spot on 5-under 103 at Midland Country Club.
In the Girls 10 at Southern Pines Golf Club, Ojaswini found two birdies at the end of her round of 74 but four bogeys earlier cost her dearly.
The Mohali girl ended fourth with 2-under 214 while Iris Lee, who led after the first day, won with a final round of 72.
Kabir Goyal, in the Boys 8 went 2-over 38 in the third round and finished at 4-over 112 at Mid Pines (Back) as Cayssi Dunlop (34) of France won with a 1-under 107. Sahib Aujla, dropped to T83 after a final round 47.
Wide participation
The two weeks of US Kids World Championships at Pinehurst saw over 2,200 youngsters from 55 countries participating, 21 of them from India.
“The growing success of our young stars over the last two weeks and last few years has led us to expand US Kids Golf India,” said Rajesh Srivastava, president of US Kids Golf India and Asia.
“Also, we have expanded to events in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, and will soon be adding Vietnam and more. This will lead to a US Kids Asian Championships next year.”
Adit Veeramachaneni shot his first sub-par round on the day with a 2-under 70 at Legacy Golf Links as he moved from T45 to T24 in the Boys 10 Category. Noah Hollinger won with a third-round 66 and an impressive 8-under 208.
Small jump
Chaitanya Pandey shot a 1 under 71 to rise from T36 to T25 in the Boys 11 at Talamore Golf Club, where Justus Hudson (66) was the winner on 15-under 201.
Naina Kapoor (76) was T30 in the Girls 11, while Hazel Hooper won the title with 7-under 209 at Pinehurst 6.
In the Girls 12 at Pinehurst 5, Shambhavi Chaturvedi salvaged a creditable placing with a 1-under 71 that saw her finish T15 in the Girls 12, while Ananyaa Sood (75) was T20.
Last week Mahreen Bhatia (2nd in Girls 14), Kartik Singh (T3 Boys 13) and Lavanya Gupta (T3 Girls 15-18) had podium finishes in the World Teen Championships for Boys and Girls at Pinehurst.
Also, Mahreen and Kartik finished on the winning side in the Team event for the Van Horn Cup.
The US Kids Golf World Championship is recognised as a ranked event for the Junior Golf Scoreboard and the American Junior Golf Association besides allowing the players to gain World Amateur Golf Ranking points.
Also read: Ojaswini, Nihaal fourth, Kabir fifth at US Kids World C’ships
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