Prince, Danish, Kabir and Ganapathy brothers to the fore at US Kids Indian Championships

Gurugram, Dec 11 (IANS) Prince Bainsla, the young prodigy from Palwal in Haryana, in the Boys 13-14 section and Danish Verma of Ludhiana in boys 12 category produced two of the best performances as the three-day US Kids Golf Indian Championships came to an end at the Classic Golf and Country Club.

Among the others to stand out were Kabir Goyal of Noida in Boy 8 and Veer Ganapathy of Bengaluru in Boys 15-18.

The four young stars all produced even par or better scores while emerging victors in their categories at the flagship event of the US Kids Golf India.

The single most impressive round came from Danish, who on the second fired a brilliant 9-under 63 at the Par-72 layout which for Boys 12 measured 5665 yards. Verma, who had rounds of 73-63-75 for a 5-under 211, is a regular on the local US Kids local Tour. His efforts included a stunning albatross on the 420-yard Par-5 fourth hole, where he holed his second shot. He also had an eagle on the Par-5 14 and four other birdies and was bogey free through the 18 holes for. a four-shot win over Jashan Ganapathy, another talented golfer from Bengaluru, who carded 73-72-70 for a 1-under 215.

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, was thrilled with the spread of honours across the country, as he noted, “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 in Top-3 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 the US Kids Golf India, began the week with a 74 but added 71-70 on the next two days for 1-under 215, which was 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 India 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 WAGR account as he beat a combined field of 30-odd players playing in the Boys 13-14 and Boys 15-18 Categories.

Kabir Goyal, who shot 36-33-33 in Boys 8 who played over nine holes each day, was par or better on all days.

Vidit Aggarwal, who was second in Boys 11, had the honour of getting a hole-in-one on Par-3 11th hole, which measured 120 yards for his age group.

Players from eight countries India took part in the Indian Championships, from where players will earn Priority Points to qualify for the US Kids European and World Championships.

US Kids Golf India will have its last two local events later this month.

–IANS

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