Two-time European Tour winner and 2018 Asian Tour Order of Merit No. 1, Shubhankar Sharma has taken on an initiative to develop junior golf in India with the ‘Shubhankar Sharma All India Invitational Junior Series’ in a bid to give back to the game he loves.
The series will consist of 5 City qualifiers and best players from these qualifiers will compete in a final tour championship in Chandigarh.
The overall winners of the tour championship will travel to the Optimist international Juniors , one of the biggest junior events on the planet in July 2021.
Events – Qualifier 1 – Forest Hills Golf & Country Club Resort – Dec. 24-27, 2020 –
Giving back to golf through Shubhankar Sharma Junior Invitational
The series played out its maiden event at Forest Hills Golf Resort (par-70), Mohali from Dec. 24-27 supported by brands like Nike and Titleist, which saw a healthy participation of over 120 juniors in age categories A, B, C, D & E & F in three batches. The day started with a golf clinic conducted by Shubhankar Sharma for the participants of category C, D & E where he showed all shots in his arsenal to the audience and shared his insights and answered questions put forward by the parents. He emphasized that one should stick to basics in golf especially juniors should have strong basics to excel in this game.
Also he shared his routine, diet and his life on tour. The clinic was followed by a special interaction with Shubhankar’s father Col Mohan Sharma with parents describing his learnings from honing a world class player since childhood.
Results –
Winners – Chandigarh – Forest Hills Golf Resort – Par 70
Cat. Amateur – 18 holes
Boys (19 & Above) – Tushar Pannu – 72 (+2)
Cat. A – 18 holes
Boys (16-18) – Divyansh Dubey – 73 (+3)
Girls (15-18) – Aarushi Bhanot – 85 (+15)
Cat. B – 18 holes
Boys (14-15) – Manjot Singh – 66 (-4)
Girls (13-14) – Pahul Padam – 78 (+8)
Cat. C – 18 holes
Boys (12-13) – Jai Gupta – 73 (+3)
Girls (10-12) – Bhavya Mahan – 81 (+11)
Cat. D – 18 holes
Boys (9-11) – Neil Jolly – 68 (-2)
Cat. E – 9 holes
Boys (Below 9) – Sohraab Singh Talwar – 34
Girls (Below 10) – Ojaswini Saraswat – 34
Qualifier – 2 – Jaypee Wishtown, Noida – Jan. 6-8, 2021 –
Winners with cricket legend Kapil Dev at Jaypee Wishtown, Noida
After the successful inaugural event at Forest Hills Golf Resort in Chandigarh, the ‘Shubhankar Sharma Junior Invitational Series’ played the second of five qualifiers at Jaypee Wishtown (Par-67), Noida, where the 1983 Cricket World Cup winning captain and legend Kapil Dev o made an appearance to support the enthusiastic youngsters.
The series, after just two events, has made its mark in the junior golf world, attracting a few participants from Chandigarh to play their second event. The organisers had to put a limit on the number of participants and teed off in four batches.
Among the players, Arin Ahuja, playing in Category A, shot 4-under 63 as the best score of the event, closely followed by Neil Jolly with a 64, on the way to winning in his Category D. Interestingly, Neil had previously shot 2-under 68 to claim the category title in Chandigarh too.
Results –
Winners – Noida – Jaypee Wishtown – Par 67
Cat. Amateur – 18 holes
Boys (19 & Above) – Deepak Yadav – 65 (-2)
Cat. A – 18 holes
Boys (16-18) – Arin Ahuja – 63 (-4)
Girls (15-18) – Tanisha Kalyan – 76 (+9)
Cat. B – 18 holes
Boys (14-15) – Vinamra Anand- 66 (-4)
Girls (13-14) – Zara Anand – 67 (even-par)
Cat. C – 18 holes
Boys (12-13) – Shubham Kumar – 72 (+5)
Girls (10-12) – Asara Sawney – 71 (+4)
Cat. D – 18 holes
Boys(9-11) – Neil Jolly – 64 (-3)
Cat. E – 9 holes
Girls (Below 10) – Anushka Gupta – 32 (-1)