By Rahul Banerji
Mahreen Bhatia, Kartik Singh, and Lavanya Gupta gave the Indian contingent a flying start in the US Kids World Teen Championships with top-five placings after the first day in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
Mahreen, second at the US Kids European Championships in June, opened her campaign with a 3-under 69 at the Pinehurst No. 6 course.
Competing in the Girls 14 category, Mahreen began with a bogey but quickly made up with two birdies before the turn.
She bogeyed once more and then came a strong run with three birdies that saw her finish on 69 behind Macie Rasmussen (67) and Maria Isabella Errichetto (68).
Kartik Singh, recent winner at the FCG Callaway World Junior Championships, also had a fine stretch run on the back nine of the Longleaf course in the Boys 13 category.
He birdied thrice and added an eagle, picking up five shots in all against three bogeys.
Ajalawich Anantasethakul (65) and Rory Asselta (67) held the top two places, while Kartik was tied for third with American Vladimir Parker and Thai Poramit Sangmanee
Tough going
Vihaan Jain (76) and Arshvant Srivastava (80) had a rough start in Boys 13.
The third Indian in the top five after the first day was Lavanya Gupta, who played a steady round of level par 72 at Pinehurst No. 5 for tied fifth in the Girls 15-18 Category.
Lavanya one birdie and one bogey behind Dagmar Soerensen of Denmark who led with a 70, while three players shot 71 each.
Udai Aditya Middha and Ranveer Mitroo were tied 15th with cards of 2-over 74 in the Boys 14 at Pinehurst No. 8, while Tejas Mishra (76) was Tied-37th.
In the Boys 15-18 Ranveer Singh Dhupia shot a 4-over 76 and in the Girls 13 at Pine Needles Asara Sawhney (83) was T33.
Ten Indians are playing in the US Kids Golf World Teen Championships and another 12 will tee up at US Kids Worlds for Boys and Girls six to 12 next week. Most qualified through the Indian tour or via the European Championships.
Ranking event
The US Kids Golf World Teen Championship is recognised as a ranked event by Junior Golf Scoreboard and the American Junior Golf Association besides allowing the players to gain World Amateur Golf Ranking points.
Top players emerging from US Kids include world no. 1 Scottie Scheffler, two-time major winners Collin Morikawa and Justin Thomas, and Sahith Theegala among others.
Women stars include Lexi Thompson and US Women’s Open winner Allisen Corpuz, a three-time winner and twice runner-up at US Kids.
Aditi Ashok, India’s top woman pro, and two-time national champion Avani Prashanth have also played with distinction at US Kids events.
Also read: Ten Indians set for US Kids Teen Worlds at Pinehurst, Longleaf
Discover more from Tee Time Tales
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.