By IANS
New Delhi : Rahul Bakshi had a disappointing final day with a four-over 76 but still went on to win the Sunfeast All India junior/sub-junior Golf title with an overall score of one-over 289 Friday. He finished four shots clear of his nearest rival.
Despite winning six tournaments last season, the All India title has always eluded the 17-year-old Chandigarh lad, but Friday he realised his dream at the Army Environmental Park and Training Area here.
“It feels great to win the title. It gave me the much-needed confidence before I step into the amateur career next season,” said Rahul after his victory.
Rashid Khan, with a card of two-over 74, was the runner-up with an overall score of 293.
Abhijit Chadha finished fourth with 296, while Chikkarangappa was fifth at 297 and Ashbeer Singh Saini and Ankur Chadha were tied for the sixth spot at 302.
However, Chikkarangappa won the ‘B’ category title by five strokes from Ashbeer. Ankur Chadha finished third at 302 in this section, while Tarundeep Singh Chadha was fourth at 310.
Meanwhile, in category ‘C’, Viraat Bhadwar overcame the challenge of Rahul Ravi on the fourth play-off hole after both the players finished with a tournament aggregate of 322.
Vidit Singh, with a total of 19-over 235, won the category ‘D’ title with a whopping 14 shots margin. He also sealed his No. 1 position on the IGU Order of Merit.
Rahul could not cope up with the weather conditions. He bogeyed the third followed by a birdie on the fourth and a bogey on the fifth.
He repeated the sequence on the seventh and eighth. However, with a one-over total on the front nine, Rahul led his nearest rival by four shots.
On the back nine, Rahul made a lone birdie on the 14th, where he missed a five-footer for an eagle. However, his lone birdie stood out against four bogeys (on 10th, 11th, 15th and 18th, mostly coming after over-shooting the green.
Meanwhile, runner-up Rashid had a brilliant start when he made back-to-back birdies on the second and third. However, he lost the advantage when he bogeyed the fourth and sixth while making a double bogey on the eighth.
On the back nine, the 16-year-old who will finish as No.1 on the Order of Merit, made a birdie on the 14th while making a bogey on the 15th.
Final Results (after 72 holes):
Category (A&B): 289 Rahul Bakshi (69, 70, 74, 76); 293 Rashid Khan (70, 72, 77, 74); 296 Abhijit S Chadha (76, 73, 75, 72); 297 Chikkarangappa (72, 77, 74, 74); 302 Ashbeer Singh Saini (79, 74, 75, 74), Ankur Chadha (75, 71, 78, 78); 304 Kapil Kumar (81, 76, 76, 71); 306 Bhanu Pratap Singh (81, 72, 77, 76), Kanishk Madan (72, 78, 77, 79); 307 Ajay Verma (78, 74, 77, 78)
Category B: 297 Chikkarangappa (72, 77, 74, 74); 302 Ashbeer Singh Saini (79, 74, 75, 74), Ankur Chadha (75, 71, 78, 78); 310 Tarundeep Singh Chadha (75, 81, 82, 72); 317 Ainesh Ahluwalia (80, 80, 80, 77)
Category C: 322 Viraat Badhwar (82, 82, 82, 76), Rahul Ravi (85, 79, 78, 80); 325 Varun Verma (84, 85, 76, 80); 331 Harman Virk (79, 87, 83, 82); 333 Roshan Raj (83, 80, 87, 83)
Category D (54 holes): 235 Vidit Singh (81, 80, 74); 249 Piyush Sangwan (83, 85, 81), Jairaj Singh Sandhu (86, 76, 87); 256 Prakhar Asawa (88, 82, 86).