The thing with the Army Environmental Parks and Air Force Training and Sports Complexes is that the layers of nationalism that envelop these facilities is an incentive for the participants to step up in a way that they do themselves proud.
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The setting at AFT Gurgaon was quite the same when Event 6 of the Indian Golf Union’s North Zone Feeder Tour, organised by Ace Golf, came calling at the picturesque venue last week.
Seemingly short at par-68, the challenging layout with its tree-lined narrow fairways and fast greens was a test of the players’ skill and mental toughness.
Despite the uncertain weather in the monsoon month, the enthusiasm could be gauged from the number of entries for the two-day event.
Mayank Oberoi covered himself in glory by shooting under-par on all days to take the top spot among men. With a total of 3-under 133 (66, 67), Mayank had a three-shot cushion over the duo of Trish Kalkal and Ikhvir Bhasin, both of whom shot identical scores of 69 and 67 to finish with a total of 136, but Trish finished ahead of Ikhvir on account of a better score on the back-nine on the final day.
Chaitanya Pandey, now a regular on the Amateur Feeder Tour, continued to gain valuable lessons by competing with players much senior to him in age and experience. After opening with a 72, Chaitanya rallied brilliantly to go under-par with a 66 to finish with a final score of 138.
Nora Beniwal was the top name among the ladies as she carded a two-day total of 139 (71, 68) to walk an easy winner with a five-shot lead over Jia Kochhar, who at 144 shot identical scores of 72. Ishita was four shots back at 148 (78, 70), and finished third.
