The IIFL Wealth Golf Invitational-Faldo Series India kicked off its series of club selection rounds across the country from the last week of November.
The qualifiers offer golfers an opportunity to book a spot in the India Final of the Faldo Series as only the top-10 in each age category of the year-end IGU Order of Merit get a direct entry.
The first qualifier was held at Kalhaar Blues & Greens in Ahmedabad. Despite Cyclone Ockchi trying to play spoilsport the day before the event, golfers turned out in huge numbers. Participants showcased great skills to master the windy conditions and shot low scores. After Ahmedabad, the qualifiers were held at Hyderabad Golf Association, which runs a great junior program and, over the past year, has initiated close to 120 new junior golfers to their program. So, majority of the participants at the event were children in the Under-16 category. Close to 9 caddy juniors also played the event as part of IIFL’s initiative to open the game to everyone.
Further, India’s current golfing capital, Bengaluru, saw a great turnout on a weekday at the Clover Greens Golf Course. The Under-18 category was keenly contested. The game went into a sudden death playoff between Aryaman Mohan and Varun Kumar Murugan after both finished with level scores in regulation. Aryaman Mohan made an amazing 15-foot long putt from the edge of the green to win the playoff.
Chandigarh saw an impressive turnout in chilly conditions at Panchkula Golf Club. Golfers as young as 7 years came to participate. Most of them are working on following in the footsteps of their local hero – Jeev Milkha Singh. The qualifiers now move to the cities of Mumbai, New Delhi and Kolkata. Winners from each of the legs in their categories will now play at the India Final at Karnataka Golf Association, Bengaluru from January 9 to 11, 2018.
(Read more in the January issue of Golf Digest India. Download here.)
(Read more in the January issue of Golf Digest India. Download here.)