By Rahul Banerji
After a successful first year, the U.S. Kids Golf India Tour 2019 gets under way on Wednesday its opening event at the Jack Nicklaus-designed Classic Golf and Country Club near Gurgaon having drawn a field of 73 across 14 age categories.
Building on the 2018 season, U.S. Kids India will operate two tours concurrently, one for the North Zone that will include Kolkata and Ahmedabad besides Delhi NCR, and a second for the South that will be played at courses in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune.
“This year, we divided the country into two zones keeping West Bengal and Gujarat in the North and the rest in the South,” Tournament Director Romit Bose said.
“After last year’s strong response, the idea was to broaden the footprint of the U.S. Kids India Tour significantly keeping in mind the two major centers of the game in India, Delhi and Bengaluru.
“This will also reduce travel for the kids by bringing our tournaments closer,” he added.
Tour spread
Tournaments in the North will be played at Classic GCC, Jaypee Greens in Greater Noida, Golden Greens Colf Club (Gurugram), Kalhaar Blues and Greens in Ahmedabad and the Tollygunje Club in Kolkata. The season-ending Tour Championship will also be at the Classic GCC.
The South leg will have events at Golden Greens in Hosur near Bengaluru, Hyderabad’s Boulder Hills Golf and Country Club, Eagleton the Golf Resort (Bengaluru) and the Poona Club Golf Course in Pune with the Tour Championship at Eagleton.
The Tour will be played across various age groups for boys, starting from age 6 and under till 18, as well as girls, from age 7 and under till 18.
Ranking points
Like last season, the India Tour will carry 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.
The new tour will see young golfers hoping to emulate the successes of the 2018-19 Tour that saw as many as 32 players in various age-groups qualifying for further competitions under the global banner of the U.S. Kids Golf from 13 age groups – eight among boys and five from the girls.
Said Rajesh Srivastava, President, U.S. Kids Golf India, “After a successful first season, we are further focussed on the right way of developing junior golf in India. We have brought a scientific approach to the development of junior golf in the right environment with age-specific equipment and yardages to ensure that our kids grow their game while enjoying the sport and also remain free from injury and fatigue.
“One of the major focus areas has been the certification of junior golf coaches and caddies, who are the first point of contact between a junior golfer and the game, as per U.S. Kids Golf global norms and standards.
Full list of tournaments
Fall 2019 (North) schedule:
May 8: Classic Golf and Country Club, Manesar
June 13: Jaypee Greens, Greater Noida
August 17: Kalhaar Blues and Greens, Ahmedabad
October 3: Tollygunje Club, Kolkata
November 1: Classic Golf and Country Club, Manesar
November 15: Golden Greens Golf Club, Gurgaon
December 10: Classic Golf and Country Club, Manesar
December 13: Classic Golf and Country Club, Manesar (Tour Championship).
Fall 2019 (South) schedule:
May 18: Clover Greens, Hosur
June 8: Boulder Hills GCC, Hyderabad
August 9: Eagleton The Golf Resort, Bengaluru
September 4: Clover Greens, Hosur
November 20: Poona Club Golf Course
November 22: Poona Club Golf Course
December 16: Eagleton The Golf Resort, Bengaluru
December 18: Eagleton The Golf Resort, Bangalore (Tour Championship).
Also read: US Kids Golf debut season ends with new annual events on the cards
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