ITC Classic Golf and Country Club played host to the finals of the U.S. Kids Golf India Tour, where 96 young golfers lined up to secure their qualification spots at the major U.S. Kids Championships held around the world – World Championship, European Championship and Teen World Championship.
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It all came down to the wire in the Boys 13-14 Years category with Ramayush Ray of Kolkata and Jai Bahl of Delhi both tied at 3-over, with the former finally winning with a brilliant putt. Anshul Kabthiyal came in 3rd with 4-over in the same category.
Kaushal Bagrodia and Joysurjo Dey, both from Kolkata grabbed the first two spots in the 15-18 Boys category with scores of 76 and 77 respectively. Good scores were also recorded by boys of all age groups. Arshvant Srivastava continued with his good stroke play to grab the second spot in Boys-9 category with a score of 79. Displaying all-round discipline, Kanav Chauhan topped the same category with a score of 75. Jujjhar Singh played some good golf in the wonderful yet challenging Jack Nicklaus designed Classic Golf & Country Club to win the Boys-12 with an even par score.
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The girls also showed grit and power as well. Ragini Navet was the top scorer of Category 12 -14 Girls with 6 over while Serena Vikram Singh of Category 15-18 topped her category with 7 over. Zara Anand of Category 10-11 girls topped her group with a score of 3 over.
U.S. Kids Golf India also announced the staging of the U.S. Kids Indian Junior Masters and U.S. Kids Asian Junior Masters from the next season onwards in the country, in an attempt to grow the game of golf in India and promoting junior golf.
Rajesh Srivastava, President, U.S. Kids Golf India said, “US Kids Golf India Tour has got unprecedented response from kids, parents and golf community of India and has exceeded our expectations. We are excited to announce that U.S. Kids Golf India will hold two new annual events from the next season, the U.S. Kids Indian Junior Masters and U.S. Kids Asian Junior Masters, apart from the local tour. We are committed to make the new season bigger, better and grander.”
Romit Bose, Tournament Director, U.S. Kids Golf India said, “With this tournament we have got 13 junior world champions. The way the tournament has been conducted is world-class. Having conducted this successful tour we will aim for higher goals and produce many more world champion golfers.”
Anshuman Gaekwad and Rajkumar Sharma, who were present at the Super Finals, may not be directly linked to golf but having observed cricket at the highest level, they had lot of inputs for the young golfers. Former India opener and cricket coach Gaekwad shared his experiences from being a part of the India dressing room and what it takes to succeed at the highest level.
Sharma was a Ranji Trophy player of repute in his days, but is better known as India captain Virat Kohli’s coach. His advice was that there is no substitute to hard work. “Virat is talented, God’s gift you can say, but talent alone can get you nowhere, the work ethics have to be in place. This has been Virat’s forte. Rain or shine, he never missed training and his success is a result of the toil he’s put in.”