Harpal Singh Bedi / Gurugram
Budding golfers put up a spirited display forcing Play-offs to decide the winner in three categories of the 14 held in the opening leg of the U.S. Kids Golf India Tour at the Classic Golf and Country Club on Wednesday.
Ansh Dubey (boys 10 years), Ranveer Mitroo (boys 11 years) and Sifat Sayal (girls 15-18 years) edged out Arshvant Srivastava, Udai Aditya Middha and Serene Vikram Singh respectively in the playoffs
Ragini Navet (girls 12-14 years group) turned in the day’s best card, a 1-under 71 on a day 73 young golfers braved the heat and gusting winds in turning out for the India Tour’s 2019 season’s North Zone opener. Ragini had three birdies to her name against two dropped shots.
Other winners to impress on the day were Arav Shah (3-over 75) in the boys 12 years category and Zara Anand (1-over 73) in the girls 10-11 age group. The boys 11 years section too saw a close battle for honours with Ranveer Mitroo needing a play-off to beat Udai Aditya Middha after both finished on 8-over 80s, while third and fourth-placed Pritish Singh Karayat (82) and Samarveer Singh Maini (83) were hard on their heels.
In the boys 10 years group, there was disappointment for Arshvant Srivastava who finished with the best score after 18 holes but was penalized a stroke with the rest of the group for slow play. In the resultant play-off on the par-5 18th hole, Ansh Dubey chipped for birdie to edge out Arshvant who was a putt away from parring the hole.
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.
U.S. Kids Golf India Tour president Rajesh Srivastava said, “It was very hot and windy today, and it gave the participants an opportunity to play in very difficult conditions. Kids have to learn to play in all sorts of weather and conditions and such opportunities were not easily available on such courses earlier, so we at U.S. Kids Golf India Tour are very happy to bring such opportunities for them,”