Chugh, Bajaj, Sneha star as U.S. Kids Golf India Tour’s Bengaluru leg opens

By Rahul Banerji

Raghav Chugh and Ruhaan Bajaj in the boys 15-18 age group and Sneha Sharan in the senior girls carded sub-par scores on the opening day of the U.S. Kids Golf India Tour Bangalore (South) leg at the Clover Greens course in Hosur on Saturday.

Chugh recorded a 7-under par 65 that included seven birdies and an eagle on the par-5 16^th hole against two bogeys at the par-72 Clover Greens course.

Bajaj had a 2-under 69 in a round studded with five birdies and an eagle as well, on the par-4 15^th hole besides two double-bogeys that dented his hopes

Scorching round

Sneha scorched the Clover Greens course in the girls 15-18 group with eight birdies against two dropped shots, but for which she would have well had the day’s best total.

This group also saw the closest battle with Rhea Jha and Ayushi Kishore finishing in a tie for second place with 1-over par 73s.

Competitions were held across 12 age categories in the first leg of the U.S. Kids Golf India Tour’s southern leg that also sees events being played at the Boulder Hills course in Hyderabad, the Eagleton near Bangalore and the Poona Club Golf Course over the next seven months.

Another impressive winner on the day was Pune’s Sudaay Chaloo, who brought in a level-par card of 72 in the boys 13-14 age group. Sudaay’s roller-coaster round included as many as five birdies against as many bogeys, the last of which came as late as in the 17^th and penultimate hole.

Sandiv Madhwapathy of Freemont, California, topped the boys 12 years group while P.S. Nilofer Sivamoorthy of Coimbatore edged out Bengalurus’ Ayan Ahmed by a stroke in the boys 9 years section,

‘Good debut’

U.S. Kids Golf India Tour president Rajesh Srivastava said, “Today has been a good debut for the U.S. Kids Golf India Tour South leg. Just last year when we had a tournament here, the entries were mostly from Delhi as there were just eight events in all and we only had a handful of local players.

“This year I am happy to see more than 40 entrants from the South Zone including cities like Pune and Coimbatore, The purpose of this tour is to give kids a platform and I’m glad that we have taken a good first step in that direction with today’s event with seven more to come.”

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 yrs, 9 holes; 10 and above 18 holes):

Boys 7 yrs: 1. Sparsh Mishra.

Boys 8 yrs: 1. Darshit Chaurasia, 2. Shaurya Dagar, 3. Anup Vettiyadan.

Boys 9 yrs: 1. P.S. Nilofer Sivamoorthy, 2. Ayan Ahmed, 3. Nakul Pampangowda.

Boys 10 yrs: 1. Ishnidh Virdi.

Boys 11 yrs: 1. Prashant Agarwal.

Boys 12 yrs: 1. Sandiv Madhwapathy, 2. Vidish Kardbhajne, 3. Krishna Lal Agarwal.

Boys 13-14 yrs: 1. Sudaay Chaloo, 2. Susheelkumar Gurlahosur, 3. Abhinav Baskar.

Boys 15-18 yrs: 1. Raghav Chugh, 2. Ruhaan Bajaj, 3. Puryanush Mangal.

Girls 8-9 yrs: 1. Ira Gujirala, 2. Jane Nelson.

Girls 10-11 yrs: 1. Aaradhya Shetty, 2. Numa Ahmed, 3. Dia Cris Kumar.

Girls 12-14 yrs: 1. Snigdha Goswami, 2. Tabaswini Sivamoorthy P.S., 3. Leya Vishwanathan.

Girls 15-18 yrs: 1. Sneha Sharan, T2. Rhea Jha and Ayushi Kishore.

Also read: Play-off wins mark first leg of U.S. Kids Golf India Tour