By Rahul Banerji
Despite gusty winds and the heat of early summer, it needed play-offs to decide the winner in three categories of the 14 held in the opening leg of the U.S. Kids Golf India Tour at the Classic Golf and Country Club on Wednesday.
With scores level after 18 holes in their respective age groups, Ansh Dubey (boys 10 years), Ranveer Mitroo (boys 11 years) and Sifat Sayal (girls 15-18 years) edged out Arshvant Srivastava, Udai Aditya Middha and Serene Vikram Singh respectively for the top spot.
Ragini Navet in the girls 12-14 years group returned the day’s best card, a 1-under 71 on a day 73 young golfers turned out for the U.S. Kids Golf India Tour’s 2019 season’s North Zone opener. Ragini had three birdies to her name against two dropped shots.
Other winners to impress on the day were Arav Shah (3-over 75) in the boys 12 years category and Zara Anand (1-over 73) in the girls 10-11 age group. The boys 11 years section too saw a close battle for honours with Ranveer Mitroo needing a play-off to beat Udai Aditya Middha after both finished on 8-over 80s, while third and fourth-placed Pritish Singh Karayat (82) and Samarveer Singh Maini (83) were hard on their heels.
Unfortunate end
In the boys 10 years group, there was disappointment for Arshvant Srivastava who finished with the best score after 18 holes but was penalized a stroke with the rest of the group for slow play. In the resultant play-off on the par-5 18th hole, Ansh Dubey chipped for birdie to edge out Arshvant who was a putt away from parring the hole.
U.S. Kids Golf India Tour president Rajesh Srivastava said, “It was very hot and windy today, and it gave the participants an opportunity to play in very difficult conditions. Kids have to learn to play in all sorts of weather and conditions and on such quality courses so we at U.S. Kids Golf India Tour are very happy to bring such opportunities for them,”
The India Tour carries ranking points, and with participation in a minimum of four events out of the eight, junior golfers will be able to gain qualification for the U.S. Kids World Championship, U.S. Kids European Championships as well as Teen World Championship.
Results (up to 9 years, 9 holes):
Boys 6 yrs and under: 1. Krishnav Gupta, 2. Zac Laroia.
Boys 7 yrs: 1. Raajveer Singh.
Boys 8 yrs: 1. Chaitanya Pander, 2. Tejas Upadhyay, 3. Rayan Sao.
Boys 9 yrs: 1. Prince Bainsla, 2. Sohang Har Kantor, 3. Ayaan Sardana.
Boys 10 yrs: 1. Ansh Dubey (in play-off), 2. Arshvant Srivastava, 3. Jay Handa.
Boys 11 yrs: 1. Ranveer Mitroo (in play-off), 2. Udai Aditya Middha, 3. Pritish Singh Karayat.
Boys 12 yrs: 1. Arav Shah, 2. Kushagra Tokas, 3. Vihaan Malhotra.
Boys 13-14 yrs: 1. Anshul Kabthiyal, 2. Krishnav Chopra, 3. Vardaan Shukla.
Boys 15-18 yrs: 1. Aarnav Sharma, 2. Aarush Marwaha, 3. Aadit Rampal.
Girls 7 yrs and under: 1. Ojaswini Saraswat, 2. Naina Kapoor.
Girls 8-9 yrs: 1. Samaira Tomar, 2. Shambhavi Chaturvedi, 3. Anandita Baloria.
Girls 10-11 yrs: 1. Zara Anand, 2. Asara Sawhney, 3. Prarthna Khanna.
Girls 12-14 yrs: 1. Ragini Navet, 2. Serena Khanna, 3. Oira Juneja.
Girls 15-18 yrs: 1. Sifat Sayal (in play-off), 2. Serena Vikram Singh.
Also read: Thirty-two qualify for US Kids Golf Europe events
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