When Dr Martin Hawtree drew up plans for the Golden Greens Golf Club, what was uppermost on his mind was to give the players a feel of Scotland and the finest experience of links golf in lush green surroundings in the vicinity of the Aravallis.
Also Read: Mayank, Samaira best amateurs at Classic Golf Resort
It isn’t just the breathtaking views that engage serious competitors, the strategically-placed bunkers, daunting rough and snaking fairways are all incentives to turn up with their ‘A’ game.
One of the eagerly-awaited events on the amateur calendar in these parts, the 20th edition of the NCR Cup was the coming together of the finest talent once more.
Going with the trend of close contests, Jai Bahl had to fight hard to eke out a two-shot win among the Gentlemen. Recovering from the 1-over 73 on the opening day, Jai carded consecutive scores of 72 to total 217. Mirajul Ali, who has made rapid strides over time, shot the only under-par round of 70, but was undone by the 77 despite closing with a 72, and a final score of 219.
There was no catching Ragini Navet (220) in the Ladies, as with rounds of 73, 73, 74 she ran away to a 13-shot win over Renee Rane, who shot 233 (74, 75, 84).
Neil Jolly scored on two fronts in Category ‘A’ Boys. He shot a 3-under 69, which was the incentive to keep up the momentum. He did so with rounds of 72 and 75, and the week’s score of 216 allowed him a comfortable win over Anas Khan 224 (75, 73, 76).
Among girls in the section, Prathana Khanna, who has learnt her golf at Golden Greens, topped with a 219 (72, 72, 75), and was followed by Samaira Tomar 227 (76, 76, 75).
Going low for two days with a 69 and 71, Sakshity Pureandre (217) teed off on the final day in line for a distinction. He fell short and despite the 77 he had done enough to win ‘B’ Boys with a convincing margin of eight shots over Chaitanya Pandey 225 (72, 78, 75).
Shiksha Jain was the top name in ‘B’ Girls with a 227 (78, 72, 77), which made her the runaway winner as Rehnoor Malik finished with 244 (82, 82, 79).
Related: KEPTA puts best foot forward for IGU event
It was double joy for Neil Jolly as he was also the top name in ‘A’ and ‘B’ Boys Combined, edging out Sakshity and Anas. Similarly, Prathana sealed her moment by racing ahead of Samaira and Shiksha.
Competing over two days, ‘C’ Boys was the most keenly contested as Rayirth Jain 159 (76, 83) and Aadyot Gupta 159 (79, 80) were in a tooth-and-nail fight, but the former prevailed on the basis of scores. Samar Baijal was third at 160 (80, 80).
Aarushi Sharma (174), Prisca Sachdeva (224) and Kyreene Grewal (242) completed the podium in ‘C’ Girls.
Saket emerged the only player to play under-par throughout, and the scores of 70, 70 for a total of 140 ensured he won ‘D’ Boys by three shots over Dhanya Deswal 143 (74, 69) and Avviraaj Kalia 143 (73, 70).
Aaradhya Rawat 146 (72, 74) too was in a pitched fight with Unnati Singh 147 (77, 70), and the duo was followed by Aaradhya Bhatnagar 159 (81, 78).
The tiny tots in Category ‘E’ put up a spirited show, and leading the way was Leyan Pal with a 75 (36, 39), Gitansh Singh Pathania 77 (40, 37) and Bhavy Rattan 78 (40, 38) among the boys.
Manasvi Kanwer lit up the proceedings by low both days to finish under-par at 69 (35, 34) and top among girls. Dhriti Singh (74) and Nayasha Sinha (76) came next.
