The 9th edition of the Volvo World Golf Challenge concluded at Prestige Golfshire last month. And vying for a spot at the World Final next year in Sweden were the 18 winners from across 9 cities who played the National Final in Bengaluru.
The Volvo World Golf Challenge began its 9-city tour in the first week of October. Over nine weeks, the tournament travelled to Jaipur, New Delhi, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Pune, Mumbai and Hyderabad before culminating in Bengaluru which also hosted the National Final. Each event saw golfers turn out in large numbers and this season’s participation totalled over 900.
The final was a keenly contested affair as a slight breeze made the back 9 an absolute challenge for the golfers and it came down to those who took their chances. The duo from Chandigarh, Sahil Sehgal (Cat A: 0-16) and Shalini Sheoran (Cat B: 17-24) were the eventual winners. The format of the event was modified stableford against the golfers 3/4th handicap. Sahil had 34 stableford points while Shalini had 37.
It was a remarkable achievement for Shalini as she was the only lady competing in the field. The understandably elated victor was also happy for not losing any golf balls as she had lost a host of them during the practice round!
Sahil, a young golfer from Chandigarh, was equally ecstatic about his win and expressed his eagerness to play in Sweden. As it turned out, one of his golfing heroes – Henrik Stenson – is a Swede, and so the experience that awaits will perhaps be even more special!
Both the winners will be traveling to Sweden, the home of Volvo Auto, to play against competitors from 40 different countries in June 2018.
(Read more in the January issue of Golf Digest India. Download here.)