Karma Lakelands Hosts Inaugural Vani Kapoor Invitational For Girls
Little Master Junior Golf Tour organised the inaugural Vani Kapoor Invitational— an all-girls event—at the picturesque Karma Lakelands on July 13. The invitation for this event was extended to 40 players between the ages of 6 and 19.
The buzz was around a “Beat the Pro” competition on Hole 6, where contestants tried to hit the ball close to the flag and better Vani’s attempt. The 24-year-old was understandably in great touch as all her shots finished within 8 to 10 feet of the hole and no one could beat her, but Vani did give an autographed Callaway golf ball to each girl who hit the green.
The age divisions in the 9-hole Invitational championship were 16- 22, 13-15, 10-12, 8-9 and 6-7. There was a playoff for the best score of the day between Rhea Jha (13-15 age group) and Zara Anand (8-9 age group) as both played 2-under-par. The play-off was won by Rhea Jha.
Following the tournament, Vani Kapoor was awarded an honorary Karma Lakelands membership by Ashwani Khurana. The junior membership card was also launched, with Prarthana Khanna being the first recipient. Vani then held a Q&A with the girls in attendance and later distributed awards to the various prize winners.
The 3 youngest competitors presented Vani a poster of hers that was signed by all the girls participating in the event.
Indo-American Bhatia rises to No.1 in Rolex Junior Rankings
16-year-old Akshay Bhatia’s recent wire-to-wire victory at the Polo Golf Junior Classic on June 29 saw him record a 17-under 267 overall—a jaw-dropping ten strokes ahead of runner-up Ryan Hall. In so doing, the Indo-American rose to World No. 1 in the Rolex Junior Ranking. The North Carolina-resident has been making waves in America’s junior circuit—the highlight being a record-breaking 61 at the Boys Junior PGA Championship in 2017, usurping the 62 set by now-PGA-pros Jordan Spieth, Miguel Cabrera-Bello, Chris Couch, Gordon Neale and Pat Perez.
Bhatia has four wins besides two Top-5 finishes and a lone Top-10 from 12 events in the 2018 season thus far.