The 19th Inter-School Golf Championship unfolded between November 14 and 15 at Tollygunge Club, drawing over 100 budding golfers from across India, with My Kolkata as digital partner. The tournament kicked off with an exhilarating first day played in the Scramble format, followed by the engaging two-ball better ball format on the subsequent day.
Gurmehr Bindra and Rudraksha Banerjee collect their trophy from Sujoy Banerjee
La Martiniere for Boys, Kolkata, the team consisting of Gurmehr Bindra and Rudraksha Banerjee became the champions in the over-13-years-old overall category after eight under par 132 (65 and 67) in two rounds of golf, whereas another team from La Martiniere for Boys, Prashant Agarwal and Armaan Tekriwal shot four under par 136 in two rounds and came second in this category.
Mehak Lohan and Priya Kumari felicitated by Sumitra Ray
Among over-13 girls, a team from Army Public School, consisting of Mehak Lohan and Priya Kumari won with one over par 141 in two rounds, while a team from Modern High School for Girls came second, consisting of Dhanvi Patel and Anjika Fatehpuria with 168. Rayan Sao of La Martiniere for Boys won the under-13 overall category with 156, followed by another team from La Martiniere for Boys, made up of Krishiv Rungta and Aryaveer Agrawal, with 157.
H.S. Bindra hands over the prize to Aaira Khaitan
Among the under-13 girls, Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir’s Julinka Roychodhury won with 165, followed by Delhi Public School Megacity’s Nahida Parvin, who finished on 185. In the under-13 overall category, Priyansh Dhandhania and Parikshet More won with one under par 67 (nine holes), followed by G.D. Goenka Public School’s Amaira Gulati, whose score was 74. Gulati, though, won in the under-nine girls division, with R.P. Goenka International School’s Ahana Khaitan and Aaira Khaitan coming second with 94. The best outstation team was Navy Children School, Visakhapatnam, consisting of Armaan Rathi and Shaurya Dayal.
(Left) Brig Ganapathy felicitates Rajdeep Paul and Kiaan Chakraborty receives his prize from H.S. Bindra (right)
The youngest participant award was won by Kiaan Chakraborty, while for the girls division, it was won by Aaira Khaitan. Rajdeep Paul won the “Special Award” for securing second position in the Special Olympics Bharat edition of the Golf NCC Championship. The most improved player for boys was won by Andrew Baid, while for girls the recipient was Myra Kaur Chandok.
Sumitra Ray from Prabha Khaitan Foundation, Sujoy Banerjee, president, Tollygunge Club; P.S. Burman, vice president, Tollygunge Club; Sreyon Chatterjee, golf captain, Tollygunge Club; H.S. Bindra, golf vice captain, Tollygunge Club; Brigadier V. Ganapathy, chief executive officer, Tollygunge Club; and Indrajit Bhalotia, director, Protouch Sports, graced the prize distribution ceremony to give away the prizes to the winners. “On behalf of Muskaan and the foundation, I would like to congratulate Mr Bhalotia and Protouch for taking up this tournament, which happens to be the largest and oldest junior golf tournament in India. I also extend my congratulations to all the children who have made their schools proud,” said Ray.
The 19th Inter-School Golf Championship 2023 is in partnership with Muskaan, a pan-India initiative of Prabha Khaitan Foundation (PKF) and the Education For All Trust aimed at promoting skill development among children. The outdoor media partner for the tournament was Balaji Ads and the tournament was organised and managed by Protouch Sports.