Two big names in Indian golf extended their support to junior golf last month. Former winner of the 
Panasonic Open, Digvijay Singh, did his bit to give back to the game as he helped initiate the Junior
Golf Challenge in his name at the Classic Golf and Country Club. The event had 19 categories – 10 for boys and 9 for girls – with participation from over 100 kids. Amongst the winners two juniors get a chance to represent the country at the Ciputra World Junior Golf Championship, Jakarta from June 6-9, 2017.
According to Digvijay, “The junior golfers are the future of the game and the Ultimate Golf Junior Tour is a great platform for the nourishment of young talent across India. Golf is no more only for the rich and is more accessible for youngsters starting out early.” Current Indian Open Champion SSP Chawrasia too organised a similar tournament at his home club, the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) with the intent
to grow the game and inspire juniors to showcase their talent on a competitive platform. Similar to the categories at Digvijay’s tour
2017 Indian Open champion SSP Chawrasia (C) with talented juniors at RCGC in Kolkata
nament – boys and girls teed it up at the RCGC. Winners of each category get to play the season-ending finale “The Milkha” Junior Golf Championship 2017 scheduled
at Chandigarh Golf Club on May 22-23, 2017. Chawrasia has generously offered to sponsor air tickets to USA for 4 winners of the season-ending finale. SSP said, “This is my first step in trying to grow the game and create future Olympians and champions. The junior golfers are the future of the game.” Both tournaments are a part of the Ultimate Junior Golf tour. The 19 winners of the final tournament in the 2016-17 tour get an opportunity to represent India in the US Kids World & Teen World Championship
at Pinehurst, North Carolina, USA. According to Sundeep Verma, Director, Ultimate Golf “ the idea of such
tournaments and collective association is to grow the game at grassroot level and give young talent opportunities to showcase their talent at international platforms.”