With five players producing par or better on the final day while winning the title in their age category, the US Kids Golf Indian Championship provided some high-quality golf at the Classic Golf and Country Club.
Ishan Ahuja (Boys 15-18), Adit Veeramachaneni (Boys 9) and Kabir Goyal (Boys 7 and under) produced one-under rounds as did Lavanya Gupta (Girls 15-18). Pritish Singh Karayat overcame the slow first round of 76 with 70-72 on the final two days to beat back a strong field in Boys 13-14.
Related: US Kids Golf’s Indian Championship set for exciting finale
Four other winners, Rabab Kahlon (Girls 9-10), a less-than-fully fit Mahreen Bhatia (Girls 13-14), Chaitanya Pandey (Boys 11) and Kartik Singh (Boys 12) turned in cards of 1-over 73 each to emerge toppers in their respective age groups.
Dan Van Horn, Founder and President of US Kids Golf worldwide gave away the prizes. In his address to the young golfers, Van Horn said that some of the best current golfers in the world like Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Scottie Scheffler, and women’s star Lexi Thompson had played the US kids events. He also revealed that more than 40 players in both the US Open and Women’s US open had played in US Kids Golf, underlining the strong foundation this series provides.
Kriti Parekh kept her nerves as her main rivals Amiya Koul (Singapore) and Shambhavi Chaturvedi fell to bogeys in their final hole, the ninth. A par for Amiya would have led to a play-off. Kriti had given away three bogeys on her first nine, the back stretch of the course, and another four bogeys on the second nine, but her 36-hole lead of two shots held good for her as she won by one shot over Amiya and by two over Shambhavi.
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Amaira Gulati produced another consistent 9-hole round of 2-over 38 in Girls 8 and under, to win by a whopping 12 shots.
Jot Sarup Gupta shot a nine-hole score of 43 in the final round of Boys 8 and Vidit Aggarwal in Boys 10 carded 79 but held on to win as his rival failed to capitalise on the opportunity.
Based on their performances this week, and on the domestic Tour, players will gain eligibility to the World Championship at Pinehurst and the European Championships in Scotland and UK.
Kabir Goyal was the only player with under par rounds on all three days with 33-33-35 in is nine-hole rounds on the Canyon Course.
Two other players, both in Boys 12 category, winner Kartik Singh, who was the most consistent with 71-69-73 and second placed Prince Bainsla 68-71-77 carded two under par rounds in the tournament.
More than 100 youngsters from eight countries took part in the event and the next edition of the Indian Championship will be held in November 2023.
Final scores of US Kids Golf Indian Championship:
Category (Holes/ yardage)/ Leader (State)/ Score
Girls Section:
Girls 8 & Under (9 holes/ 1495 yards): Amaira Gulati 35-38-38 (+3); Vihana Patel 40-40-43 (+15)
Girls 9-10 (18 / 3995 yards): Rabab Kahlon 85-80-73 (+22); Dalisha Chetry 85-83-76 (+28);
Girls 11-12 (18/ 4585 yards): Kriti Parekh 70-76-78 (+8); Aamiya Koul (Singapore) 75-75-75 (+9)
Girls 13-14 (18/ 5665 yards): Mahreen Bhatia 80-78-73 (+15), Alysha Dutt 80-80-75 (+19)
Girls 15-18 (18/ 5665 yards): Lavanya Gupta 75-73-71 (+3); Diya Brar 77-81-73 (+15)
Boys Section:
Boys 7 & Under (9/ 1755 yards): Kabir Goyal 33-33-35 (-7); Divjot Gupta 41-40-40 (+13)
Boys 8 (18/ 2010 yards): Jot Sarup Gupta 46-55-43 (+36); Arihant Joshi 60-55-56 (+63);
Boys 9 (18/ 3995 yards): Adit Veeramachaneni 73-75-71 (+3); Siddhant Sharma 76-75-76 (+11)
Boys 10 (18/ 4585 yards): Vidit Aggarwal 83-72-79 (+18); Aditya Misra 81-79-79 (+23)
Boys 11 (18/ 5193 yards): Chaitanya Pandey 75-72-73 (+4); Keiran Gouri (Canada) 75-73-78 (+10)
Boys 12 (18/ 5665 yards): Kartik Singh 71-69-73 (-3); Prince Bainsla 68-71-77 (Even);
Boys 13-14 (18/ 6386 yards): Pritish Singh Karayat 76-70-72 (+2); Jai Gupta 70-77-74 (+5)
Boys 15-18 (18/ 6386 yards): Ishan Ahuja 73-72-71 (Even); Ram Singh Mann Ramirez 76-71-74 (+5)
