Star-studded field of young golfers set for fifth leg of US Kids Golf India

Ready for 5th leg of US Kids Golf India – Amaira Gulati, Chaitanya Pandey, Adit Veeramachaneni and Kriti Parekh. Pic: US Kids Golf India.

Khel Today Bureau

Gurugram: Eight players, who won the US Kids Golf Indian Championships last month will tee up at the fifth leg of the domestic Tour of the world acclaimed series, which will have its last two legs this week at the Classic Golf and Country Club.

The eight Indian Championship winners include three from the Girls section headed by Amaira Gulati of Lucknow, who has also won all three domestic legs she played in. She did not play in one of the four. The other star players will include Indian Championship winners Rabab Kahlon (Girls 9-10) and Kriti Parekh, who comes all the way from Coonoor in Karnataka.

In the Boys section, the five Indian Championship winners will be on view. They are Kabir Goyal (Boys 7), Jot Sarup Gupta (Boys 8), Adit Veeramachaneni (Boys 9), Vidit Aggarwal (Boys 10) and Chaitanya Pandey (Boys 11). Of these, Jot Sarup Gupta, Bengaluru’s Adit Veeramachaneni and Chaitanya Pandey have also won all four legs on the domestic Tour. Also on view will be Manyaveer Bhadoo, who has won all four domestic legs but missed a Top-3 finish in the Indian Championship. They are all looking for a rare five-in-a-row feat.

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.

Kriti had won a tight contest at the Indian Championship, where Shambhavi Chaturvedi finished third after winning three of the four domestic legs of the US Kids Golf India series.

Rabab won the second leg and the Indian Championship in Girls 9-10, while Naina Kapoor won three Indian legs, and both will lock horns once again.

Four of the players have also won all four domestic events held so far and they are Jot Sarup, Adit, Chaitanya and Manyaveer Bhadoo (Boys 15-18).

The fifth leg will also see Boys Under 7 star, Kabir Goyal, who shot under par scores in all three rounds at the Indian Championship who has also won two of the four domestic legs and he will have for competition, Divjot Gupta and Sahib Ajula, who have won once each on the local Tour.

The fifth and sixth legs of the US Kids Indian Tour are 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.