Harpal Singh Bedi /Gurugram
Buoyed by the last year’s success the U.S. Kids Golf India Tour 2019 rolls out with its opening event to be played at the Jack Nicklaus-designed Classic Golf and Country Club near here on Wednesday.
The U.S. Kids Golf India Tour will be played across various age groups for boys, starting from age 6 and under till 18, as well as girls, from age 7 and under till 18.
On Wednesday, 73 young golfers participating in 14 age categories will tee off the season, hoping to emulate the successes of the 2018-19 Tour that saw as many as 32 players in various age-groups qualifying for further competitions under the global banner of the U.S. Kids Golf from 13 age groups – eight among boys and five among girls.
Building on the previous season, U.S. Kids India will operate two tours concurrently, one for the North Zone that will include Kolkata and Ahmedabad besides Delhi NCR, and a second for the South Zone that will be played across Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune.
“This year, we divided the country into two zones keeping West Bengal and Gujarat in the North and the rest in the South,” Tournament Director Romit Bose said. “After last year’s strong response, the idea was to broaden the footprint of the U.S. Kids India Tour significantly keeping in mind the two major centers of the game in India, Delhi and Bengaluru.
“This will also reduce travel for the kids by bringing our tournaments closer,” he added.
Tournaments in the North will be played at Classic GCC, Jaypee Greens in Greater Noida, Golden Greens Colf Club (Gurugram), Kalhaar Blues and Greens in Ahmedabad and the Tollygunje Club in Kolkata. The season-ending Tour Championship will also be at the Classic GCC.
The South leg will be held at Golden Greens in Hosur near Bengaluru, Hyderabad’s Boulder Hills Golf and Country Club, Eagleton the Golf Resort (Bengaluru) and the Poona Club Golf Course in Pune with the Tour Championship at the Engleton course.
U.S. Kids Golf India President Rajesh Srivatsava said, “After a successful first season, and with golf now being a part of the Olympics and the Asian Games, we are focussed on the right way of developing junior golf in India.
With this initiative, we have put forward a scientific approach to the development of junior golf in the right environment with age-specific equipment and yardages to ensure that our kids grow their game while enjoying the sport and also remain free from injury and fatigue.
“One of the major focus areas has been the certification of junior golf coaches and caddies, who are the first point of contact between a junior golfer and the game, as per U.S. Kids Golf global norms and standards’.
The Tour will carry ranking points, and with participation in a minimum of four events out of the eight, junior golfers will be able to gain qualification for the U.S. Kids World Championship, U.S. Kids European Championships as well as U.S. Kids Teen World Championship.