Young achievers set for final two legs of US Kids Golf India tour

By Rahul Banerji

Eight winners from the US Kids Golf Indian Championships last month will tee up at the final two legs of the domestic tour at the Classic Golf and Country Club.

The eight include three from the girls’ section headed by Amaira Gulati of Lucknow, who has also won all three domestic legs she played in and missed the fourth.

The other Indian Championship winners are Rabab Kahlon (Girls 9-10) and Kriti Parekh, who comes all the way from Coonoor.

In the boys’ section, five Indian Championship winners will be on view – Kabir Goyal (7 yrs), Jot Sarup Gupta (8 yrs), Adit Veeramachaneni (9 yrs), Vidit Aggarwal (10 yrs), and Chaitanya Pandey (11 yrs).

Of them, Jot, Bengaluru’s Adit and Chaitanya have also won all four legs on the domestic Tour.

In the fray too is Manyaveer Bhadoo, who has won all four domestic legs but missed a top-three finish in the Indian Championship.

Power centre

The US Kids Golf series is a global set of events around the world and India is fast emerging as a nerve centre for competition outside the US.

Past competitors include former world no. 1 Scottie Scheffler, three-time major winner Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Collin Morikawa.

Lexi Thompson, the superstar of women’s golf, also played US Kids Golf events in the US.

Avani Prashanth, India’s top amateur for the last two years and two-time national champion, has also competed in it with great distinction.

Kriti won a tight contest at the Indian Championship, where Shambhavi Chaturvedi finished third after winning three of the four domestic legs of the US Kids Golf India series.

Facing off

Rabab won the second leg and the Indian Championship in Girls 9-10, while Naina Kapoor won three Indian legs, and the two will lock horns once again.

The fifth leg will also see boys U-7 star Kabir Goyal, who shot sub-par scores in all three rounds at the Indian Championship and has won two of the four domestic legs.

He faces competition from Divjot Gupta and Sahib Ajula, who have won once each on the local tour.

The closing legs of the US Kids Indian Tour are the last chance for players to gain status and priority to qualify for the World Championship and the European Championships in 2023.

Only a win will not suffice as par scores or better in at least two rounds will also be taken into consideration.

Also read: Six winners at US Kids Golf Indian C’ship impress on final day