Kartik recorded a top-10 finish in tough conditions on an 8,000+ yard course
India’s 15-year-old Kartik Singh delivered a gritty performance last week to finish tied-7th at The Royal Junior, played from April 17-20 at The Royal Golf Club in Japan. The standout aspect of the tournament was the staggering 8,026-yard course length, which far exceeds the PGA TOUR’s average of approx. 7,200 yards, and is perhaps the longest tournament layouts ever used in golf.
By comparison, even the longest courses on the PGA TOUR typically max out at around 7,600-7,800 yards, and rarely stretch beyond that. For the Girls Category, the course in Japan was set up at 7,030 yards, nearly 600 yards longer than the LPGA Tour’s average of 6,400 yards.
The course setup was brutal: The 16th hole, a 700-yard par 5, played into a strong headwind and required a combination of Driver + 3-Wood + 3-Wood just to have a chance of reaching the green in regulation. Three of the four par-3s were over 250 yards and green speeds ran at 12 on the Stimpmeter, with gusty winds and firm surfaces compounding the difficulty.
Despite an opening-round 8-over 80 that placed Kartik at tied-26th in a 49-player field, he then produced the lowest 36-hole total among the boys over the next two rounds, shooting 71 and 72 in highly challenging conditions to climb to tied-7th on the leaderboard. Also tied for seventh was 2nd-round leader Yuki Hisatsune of Japan, who had shot a 66 in the second round but fell back with a final-round 10-over 82—a 16-shot difference!
Vietnam’s Nguyen Anh Minh, Kartik’s teammate in last year’s Junior Presidents Cup and this year’s winning Asia-Pacific Men’s Team at the Bonallack Trophy, shot 5-over 77 on the final day and finished in a tie for fourth place.
Kartik’s opening round had featured 16 greens-in-regulation, but he ended up making seven 3-putts due to difficulty in adjusting to the lightning-fast greens, which resulted in the uncharacteristic 8-over score. However, the Delhi golfer made key adjustments to go 3-under through 16 holes in the final round, handling the intense conditions with composure in what was described as one of his best rounds.
The 3 other Indians in the field, Anshul Mishra (10-over 226), Harjai Milkha Singh (21-over 237), and Angad Singh (25-over 241), finished 11th, tied-18th, and 23rd respectively.
Singapore’s Brayden Lee became the first non-Japanese player to win the Boys’ title, finishing with a total score of one-over 217.
In the Girls’ Category, Delhi’s Zara Anand, 16, carded rounds of 80-75-81 to finish 16th with a total score of 20-over 236, while Yogya Bhalla was tied-21st at a total score of 26-over 242.
Japanese player Anna Iwanaga overcame a one-shot overnight deficit, closing with a 76 for a three-day total of 3-over 219 to take the title, and maintain a 100% win record for the home country in the Girls’ division.
Kartik’s top-10 finish on an 8,000+ yard layout against an elite international field is a promising signal for Indian junior golf heading into the rest of the season.
The Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) extends invitations to the Top Girl and Boy Junior from various countries in the Asia-Pacific region, provided they have high enough World Amateur Rankings, and the tournament also took care of all their travel and stay expenses – a great opportunity for Kartik and Zara.