Adit, Chaitanya, Jot Sarup and Amaira maintain winning streak at US Kids Golf India

Winners all – Adit Veeramachaneni (Boys 9), Chaitanya Pandey (Boys 11), Kriti Parekh (Girls 11-12), Udai Middha (Boys 13-14) and Amaira Gulati (Girls 8-Under) at the 5th Leg of the US Kids Golf India Series. Pic: US Kids Golf India. 

Khel Today Bureau

Gurugram: Adit Veeramachaneni, the only player to shoot under par on the day, and Chaitanya Pandey maintained the dominance of their respective age groups as they remain unbeaten in the US Kids Golf India tournaments this year. The two also won their age Category events at the US Kids Golf Indian Championship, which also had WAGR points. Adit won the Boys 9 title and Chaitanya won in Boys 11 segment.

Another player winning all the events this season has been Jot Sarup Gupta (Boys 8) as he added a fifth domestic title to the Indian Championship he won.

Manyaveer Bhadoo also won his fifth straight title in Boys 15-18.

Kabir Goyal (Boys 7) who had stunned the field with three straight under par rounds at the Indian Championship came close to shooting another under par round, as he made a great recovery in last three holes with an eagle and a closing birdie to finish at 1-over. He earlier dropped four shots between the third and fifth.

The girls section saw Lucknow golfer Amaira Gulati (Girls Under-8) register her fourth domestic win besides the Indian Championship last month. She shot 4-over 40 over the nine-hole competition and edged out Gairat Kaur Kahlon (41) by one.

Coonoor’s Kriti Parekh who won the Girls 11-12 Indian Championship grabbed her second domestic title with a score of 4-over 76 and beat her arch-rival Shambhavi Chaturvedi (78), who had won three of the four previous domestic events.

Naina Kapoor (79) added a fourth domestic title at the US Kids Golf India, while Myra Kumar (83) had her maiden success in the Girls 13-14.

The sixth and final leg of the US Kids Indian Tour, which carries double points, is the last chance for players to gain status and priority to qualify for the World Championship and the European Championships in 2023. Only a win will not suffice as the players scores, which need to be par or better in at least two rounds, will also be taken into consideration.

Adit was the player to shoot under par with a superb 4-under 68 in Boys-9 segment, while Chaitanya Pandey despite the win would have been disappointed with his 5-over 77. Pandey had four birdies but dropped nine shots with seven bogeys and one double bogey. He had just five pars in an action-packed round.

Two other boys who came with good winning scores were Sohang Har Kantor, who shot even par 72 in Boys 12 and Udai Aditya Middha who carded 1-over 73 in Boys 13-14.

Vidit Aggarwal, who won the Indian Championship, but had not won a domestic leg, took his first success in the Boys 10 section with a round of 77.

Samar Singh won the Boys Under-6 title.

A total of 53 players took part in the event and most of them will be back for the sixth and final leg on Friday.

The US Kids Golf series is one of the best-known global series of events in various parts of the world. India is fast emerging as one of the nerve centres for competition outside the United States.

Among those who have competed in it are the likes of former World No. 1s, Scottie Scheffler, three-time Major winner Jordan Spieth, two-time Major champion Justin Thomas and two-time Major winner, Collin Morikawa, who was World No. 2. Lexi Thompson, the superstar of women’s golf, also played US Kids Golf events in the US.

Avani Prashanth, India’s No. 1 amateur for the last two years and two-time National champion, has also competed in it with great distinction and been in the Top-3, too.