It was a tale of two cities and two venues, but there was one overriding factor that bound City Qualifiers 4 and 5 of the Shubhankar Sharma All-India Invitational this week. The turnout at KEPTA, Ambala, and Jaypee Wish Town, Noida, ascertained beyond doubt golf’s push as one of fastest growing sports in the country.
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Driven by the vision of Shubhankar to give back to the sport that defines him, and his father Colonel Mohan Sharma (retd), the enthusiasm of the players was infectious, and one that has come to be associated with this annual event.
In the lead-up to the national final at the Classic Golf & Country Club later this month, first up was the one-day action at KEPTA, and the highlight was Arindam Sudan’s under-par show in Category A Boys. With a round of 3-under 69 at the par-72 layout, Arindam was an easy winner as Jatin Kumar trailed with a 78. Adhiraj Singh Gill was next with an effort of 83.
In Amateur boys, Nikhil was the top name with an effort of 2-over 74, and was followed by Himanshu’s 78.
Mehak Lohan topped A and B Girls with a 78, Alaina Joshi trailed with a 94, while Miley Thapar came next.
In B Boys, Harry Singh and Sartaj Singh Dhillon were the top names with scores of 81 and 92 respectively. Hriday Rialch finished third.
It was a part of the learning curve for the trio of Aryaveer Singh Grewal (89), Rannveer Singh Gill (97) and Samarjot Singh (98) as they took the top-three spots in C Boys.
It was no different for Padam Vibhuti, Bhakti Mansukhani and Stuti Pankaj in C Girls.
Abram Chawla stood apart in D Boys, eking a two-shot win with a 78 over Pratham Vir Singh (80). Zorawar Singh Chahal trailed a shot back.
Among girls in the category, Aaradhya Rawat was the was impressive with a 1-over 73, which made her a hands down winner over Vidushi Singh and Pareesa Pradhan.
Gitansh Singh Pathania shot a 1-over 35 over nine holes to complete a four-shot win over Tansh Bansal (38). Yashaswin Sanghi followed with a 44.
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The tight par-67 Jaypee Wish Town comes with its challenges, and that was evident in the scores during Qualifier 5.
Chaitanya Pandey was one of the two names to go under-par, working up a 1-under 66 to win Category B Boys with a five-shot margin over Arihaan Beri, who finished with a 71. Ayush Gupta posted a 76.
The other name to go low was Samar Baijal. With a history of some strong finishes here, Samar shot a 4-under 63 to emerge an easy winner in D Boys. He was followed by Mohd Rehan (76) and Shauryaveer (79).
It was a close contest in A Boys with little to separate the players. Ikvir Bhasin rode a 69 to shape a narrow win over Anshul Bhati (70). Ritik Madan came next with a 73.
Among girls, Myra Kumar (74) and Aarohi Attri (84) were the top names.
The seasoned Arjun Gulati faced little opposition as he stormed to the top spot in Amateurs with a 72, six shots better than Vasu Mitra. Ravinder Kaur was next with an 85.
In B Girls, Rashi (70), Anahida (82) and Kashika Senthil (84) completed the podium.
C Boys was another category that witnessed a close fight, and after it was done, the leaderboard read, Kabir Sachdev (76), Aadyot Gupta and Dhruv Lamba (77).
It was a picture in contrast in C Girls as there was a yawning gap between Dalisha Chetry (72) and Divija Rao (82) and Abner Sengar (83).
Aaradhya Bhatnagar (73), Naira Chetry (89) and Aadya Kaushal (93) completed the podium in D Girls, while Kaashvii Sharma won E Girls with a 9-hole card of 44.
Showing promise, Zowra Veer Sikand won E Boys with an effort of 36 over 9 holes. Aryaan Mittal (37) was a close second, and was followed by Bhavy Rattan and Ranveer Beri (41).
