By Rahul Banerji
Seventy-one participants across 13 age groups teed off in the first staging of the US Kids Golf India Tour’s first event at the Jack Nicklaus designed Classic Golf & Country Club near Manesar on Friday.
On a crisp winter morning, the enthusiasm was infectious as players as young as seven years teed off. Anushka Gupta emerged champion among girls seven and under while Chaitanya Gupta was the topper in the boys’ event.
The tour laid out age-specific yardages and in the words of Jai Bahl, winner of the 13-14 years category. “I am not a long hitter but the course layout helped me score well,” he said.
Winners in other girls’ categories were Ayesha Gupta in (8-9 years), Lavanya Gupta (10-11 years, Ragini Navet (12-14 years), and Khushi Dawar (15-18 years).
Among the boys, Sohang Har Kantor won the 8 years event, the others being Bhavesh Nirwan (9 years), Udai Aditya Middha (10 years), Kushagra Tokas (11 years), Vickram Baruah (12 years) and Aaryomaan Bose (15-18 years).
High praise
Ace professional golfer Jyoti Randhawa, present to encourage the children, lauded the effort. “In my days, there were hardly any junior tournaments and very little competition. So this endeavour from U.S. Kids Golf is very encouraging,” he said.
Added Rajesh Srivastava, president,US Kids Golf India, “US Golf Kids India has been formed to promote junior golf in the country.
“It was amazing to see the talent on display today and we couldn’t have been happier with the way that the tour has kicked off.”
Subsequent events will be held at the Tollygunge Club (Kolkata), Eagleton Golf Resort (Bangalore), Boulder Hills Golf and Country Club (Hyderabad), Chandigarh Golf Club and Poona Club Golf Course (Pune).
Winners: US Kids Golf India Tour (Winter 2018-19), Dec.7, 2018
| Category | Winner |
| Boys 7 | Chaitanya Gupta |
| Boys 8 | Sohang Har Kantor |
| Boys 9 | Bhavesh Nirwan |
| Boys 10 | Udai Aditya Middha |
| Boys 11 | Kushagra Tokas |
| Boys 12 | Vickram Baruah |
| Boys 13-14 | Jai Bahl |
| Boys 15-18 | Aaryomaan Bose |
| Girls 7 & under | Anushka Gupta |
| Girls 8-9 | Ayesha Gupta |
| Girls 10-11 | Lavanya Gupta |
| Girls 12-14 | Ragini Navet |
| Girls 15-18 | Khushi Dawar |
Also read: US Kids Golf brings new junior tour to India
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