Gurugram, India: Teenage prodigy Prince Bainsla and Danish Verma produced outstanding performances at the three-day US Kids Golf Indian Championships.
Among the others to stand out at the Classic Golf and Country Club were Kabir Goyal and Veer Ganapathy.
The four youngsters all returned scores of even-par or better to emerge victorious in their respective age group categories – Ganapathy (Boys’ 15-18), Bainsla (Boys’ 13-14), Verma (Boys’ 12) and Goyal (Boys’ 8) – at the flagship event of the US Kids Golf India.
The lowest round came from Ludhiana’s Verma on day two when he fired a nine-under 63 at the layout which for Boys' 12 measured 5,665 yards.
A regular on the local US Kids local Tour, his efforts included a stunning albatross on the 420-yard par-five fourth hole, where he holed his second shot. He also had an eagle on the long 14th and four other birdies and was bogey-free through the 18 holes.
His 54-hoel total of five-under 211 (73-63-75) was four shots ahead of Jashan Ganapathy, another talented golfer from Bengaluru who carded rounds of 73, 72 and 70.
The honours were well distributed among players from across the country, as Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Delhi and Punjab produced two winners each, while there was one each from Noida, Palwal (Haryana) and Mumbai. There were other podium finishers from the same centres, too.
Among other states, Gujarat, also shone with one second place and another third place. There was one winner from Singapore, Amiya Koul, who is of Indian origin.
Rajesh Srivastava, President, US Kids Golf India, said: “It is heartening to see golf spread all over India. It is not concentrated in one area – we had winners from all zones and podium finishes from many other states and cities. It shows that US Kids Golf is achieving its mission of taking the sport all over. We now look forward to spreading it across Asia with India as the hub.”
Bainsla, who is supported by US Kids Golf India, began the week with a 74 and added scores of 71 and 70 to win Boys’ 13-14 with a one-under 215 aggregate, better than Boys-15-18 winner, Veer Ganapathy (72-70-74).
Veer and Jashan, who are brothers, are coached by their father, Rahul Ganapathy, a former Indian professional, who now runs an academy in Bengaluru, and also conducts the US Kids Golf local Tour in Bengaluru.
Bainsla’s effort also saw him open his World Amateur Golf Ranking account as he beat a combined field of 30-odd players playing in the Boys 13-14 and Boys 15-18 Categories.
Goyal, who shot 36-33-33 in Boys’ 8 which was played over nine holes each day, was par or better on all days.
Vidit Aggarwal, second in Boys’ 11, had the honour of making a hole-in-one on par-three 11th, which measured 120 yards for his age group.
Players from eight countries took part in the Indian Championships, from where participants will earn Priority Points to qualify for the US Kids European and World Championships.
