Kartik Sharma makes it to the Junior Presidents Cup
India’s highest-ranked, age-eligible golfer, Kartik Sharma, will be part of Stuart Appleby’s Internationals team, taking on the US team, led by Justin Leonard. The 18-year-old golfing sensation from Gurugram earned a spot at the upcoming Junior Presidents Cup, scheduled for December 8 – 9 at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club.
The Junior Presidents Cup precedes the senior event that will see Ernie Els’ Internationals take on Tiger Woods-led Team USA at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club a few days later.
Kartik will be the second Indian to play the Junior Presidents Cup after Rayhan Thomas qualified at the inaugural edition of the event two years ago. Team USA won that year by a 14-10 margin at the Plainfield Country Club in New Jersey, where David Toms led the home side and South Africa’s Trevor Immelman led the Internationals.
According to the event’s website, “the Internationals eligibility criteria is, the leading 12 qualified players based on the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) as of September 5, 2019.
“Participants for both teams must be at least 12 years old by the start of the tournament and must have not reached their 19th birthday or have yet graduated high school as of January 1, 2019.
Prior to this Sharma made headlines for his NSW Amateur Championship win in Perth in January over the home favourite Nathan Barberie in a 36-hole final.
RAGHAV 26TH AND PRANAVI 42ND IN IRELAND
Top-ranked amateurs Pranavi Urs and Raghav Chug —Champions of the Indian National Junior Girls and Boys divisions — represented India at The Duke of York Young Champions Trophy from September 9-12. A total of 69 young players from over 41 countries fought it out to claim the title. Conor Gough from England emerged as the winner with six strokes, a total score of 222 over Callum Macfie.
The home of the 148th Open, Royal Portrush’s Dunluce Link course, played host to the tournament where Raghav Chugh finished tied-26th with his total score of 241(78, 86 and 77) and Pranavi Urs finished tied-42nd with her total score of 250 (79. 88 & 83).
The Duke of York Young Champions Trophy is a junior golf event created by The Duke of York and John Simpson and supported by the R&A. It is played in a 54- hole stroke-play format. This invitational event aims to promote the development of junior golf, encourage competitiveness and friendship between individual champions whilst also offering a unique opportunity for boys and girls to compete for the same trophy on a top-quality UK links course.
The Duke of York Young Champions Trophy is organised like a professional tournament to give potential golf stars a chance to experience what life on the professional circuit might involve.
This includes the sponsors and official functions, the official dinner hosted by the Duke of York, as well as an educational talk. Past players include Rory McIlroy, Anna Nordqvist, Matteo Manassero, and Tom Lewis.
BHATI TOPS IGU DELHI STATE NCR CHAMPIONSHIP
15-year-old Arjun Bhati emerged victorious in a keen battle for top honours
at the IGU Delhi State NCR, Junior Boys and Girls Championship played
from August 26-30 at the Jaypee Greens golf course in Greater Noida.
Bhati (295), a promising talent, topped the combined overall and Category B event for boys, edging out Milind Soni (296) on the very last hole of the four-day competition. The result also gave Bhati and Soni the top two positions in the combined or overall boys’ competition, ahead of players from the senior group.
Bhati achieved rounds of 72, 79, 72, and 72 and came into the final day trailing Soni by two shots. He levelled scores on the front nine and the two fought all the way down the back nine with Soni bogeying the 72nd and final hole, while Bhati converted for par to emerge winner by one stroke.