By Rahul Banerji
After a strong show in Europe, Indian juniors are set for the US Kids Golf World Teen Championships to be followed by the US Kids Golf World Championships (six to 12 years).
Ten will feature in the World Teen Championships and another 12 will tee up at the US Kids Worlds for Boys and Girls six to 12. Events have been divided between Pinehurst, Longleaf and Pine Leaf courses in North Carolina.
Most qualified through the Indian local tour or the European Championships held between May and June.
The Boys 13 group has Kartik Singh, Arshvant Srivastava and Vihaan Jain, while the Boys 14 will have Ranveer Mitroo, Tejas Mishra and Udai Aditya Middha. In Boys 15-18, it will be Ranveer Singh Dhupia.
The three girls in action this week are Asara Sawhney (Girls 13) Mahreen Bhatia (Girls 13) and Lavanya Gupta (Girls 15-18).
The Van Horn Cup follows the three-day championship featuring the top players from each age group at Pinehurst No. 2.
Tough group
Leading the Indian challenge in Boys 13, considered to be the toughest section, is Kartik Singh, recently crowned champion at the FCG Callaway World Junior 2023 in Boys 13-14 at Rancho Mirage.
He shot 15-under 201 to earn a two-shot victory. He also played the US Junior Amateurs but missed the cut.
Arshvant Srivastava, playing the US Kids Worlds for the fifth time, has finished on the podium in Europe and been in the top-10 twice before at the Worlds and the top-15 each time.
Kartik was third in 2019 and eighth in 2017. They have progressed from Boys 7 over the last six years and the Boys 13 also includes Vihaan Jain.
At the US Kids European Championships, Harjai Milkha Singh, son of the Indian golfing legend, Jeev Milkha Singh won the Boys 13, but has skipped the Worlds due to academic commitments.
Good record
Gurgaon golfer Mahreen Bhatia finished second in the Girls 13 and is back again this week to make a bid for the World Championships.
Bangalore’s Adit Veeramachaneni was fourth in the Boys 9, while Vihaan Jain was T5 in the Boys 13 and Arshvant Srivastava seventh in the same section.
Ananyaa Sood was fifth in the Girls 12 and Naina Kapoor was T8 in the Girls 11.
Overall, India had one win, two seconds, three other top-5 finishers and two more in the top 10. Of the 16 Indians who teed up during the week at five famous Scottish golf courses, eight finished in Top-8 or better.
Chandigarh’s Nihal Cheema finished second in Boys Under-7 and will play next week.
The U.S. Kids Golf World Teen 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.
World-class players emerging from the US Kids include the likes of world no. 1 Scottie Scheffler, two-time major winners Collin Morikawa and Justin Thomas, Sahith Theegala among others.
The 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.
Indian World Championships entrants
Boys Under 13 at Longleaf: Kartik Singh, Arshvant Srivastava and Vihaan Jain;
Boys Under 14 at Pinehurst 8: Ranveer Mitroo, Tejas Mishra and Udai Aditya Middha
Boys 15-18 at Pinehurst 4: Ranveer Singh Dhupia
Girls 13 at Pine Needles: Asara Sawhney
Girls 14 at Pinehurst 6: Mahreen Bhatia
Girls 15-18 at Pinehurst 5: Lavanya Gupta
Sub-junior worlds
Another group of 12 Indians will play next week at the world championships between age six and 12.
The group will include Ojaswini Saraswat who finished second in the Girls 9 last year and will compete in the Girls 10 this year.
Boys Under 6 at Midland Country Club: Nihal Cheema
Boys Under 8 at Mid Pines Back: Divjot Gupta, Kabir Goyal and Sahib Aujla
Boys Under 10 at Legacy Golf Links: Adit Veeramachaneni
Boys Under 11 at Talamore Golf Club: Chaitanya Pandey
Girls Under 7 at Midland Country Club: Ahana Shah and Vedika Bhansali
Girls Under-10 at Southern Pines GC: Ojaswini Saraswat
Girls Under 11 at Pinehurst 6: Naina Kapoor
Girls U-12 at Pinehurst 5: Shambhavi Chaturvedi and Ananyaa Sood
Also read: Harjai Milkha Singh wins US Kids Golf Euro C’ship title
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