Top Indian amateurs set for IGU Southern India Golf Championships in Bengaluru

India’s leading amateur golfers and promising juniors will compete in the IGU Rotary Southern India Bio-Gen Sansera Amateur Golf Championships in Bengaluru, with 77 players vying for the Rs 75,000 winner’s purse. The Ladies and Junior Girls event begins Wednesday

Hyderabad: Most of the country’s top amateurs, including a few promising juniors, have arrived in the Garden City for the IGU Rotary Southern India Bio-Gen Sansera Amateur Golf Championships, which tees off at the picturesque KGA course in Bengaluru on Tuesday.

In all, 77 golfers will vie for the winner’s purse of Rs 75,000 in the eighth leg of the IGU circuit. Ribhav Verma, third in the Order of Merit, and Ranveer Mitroo, who have both won once this season, will be the cynosure of attention in probably the only amateur event that offers prize money.

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Junior boys’ Order of Merit leader Harjai Milkha Singh, Arin Ahuja, Chaitanya Pandey, Krish Chawla and a host of local golfers will look to write their own scripts at the course, where players must be solid from tee to green. Although the greens are not as lightning-fast as they were during the PGTI event two weeks ago, the player who putts well could be the last one standing.

Like in the amateur event, many promising KGA golfers are in the fray in the three-day Ladies and Junior Girls event, which begins on Wednesday. While the Ladies winner will also get a cheque for Rs 75,000, the organisers have decided to offer nominal prize money in the other three categories — ‘A’ (15-17 years), ‘B’ (13-14) and ‘C’ (11-12) — as well.

Winless so far this season, Shashank Sachin Gadre will look to end his drought and retain his title at the IGU Western India Junior Boys Golf Championship, which gets underway at the Oxford Golf Resort in Pune on Tuesday.

Besides Gadre, in-form Vihaan Jain, who has won twice this year, and Jaibir Singh Kang will be watched with interest. Competition will be held in three categories.