Spearheaded by their talented young golfers, United Services Club remained on course for a hat-trick of titles, finishing tied at 14 ½ points with Willingdon Sports Club at the end of the 1st day’s play in the 21st Grover Vineyards Inter-Club Golf Championship, which teed off at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club, Chembur, here, on Saturday.
Naynika Sanga
Hosts BPGC are in third place with 11 ½ points, with Poona Golf Club in fourth position with 10.
Naynika Sanga (handicap 7) and Kanishka Sinha (handicap 3), the two junior girls gave, US Club a rousing start, winning their singles encounters against WSC’s Zachary Yusuf and PGC’s Rajat Buddraja respectively. U S Club managed to keep their nose ahead thanks to steady performances in the foursomes and fourballs, where junior Trimam Saluja partnered with Col Jazz Bakshi to get the better of their opponents from WSC in the foursomes. In the fourballs it was the turn of another junior Keshav Mishra to partner with Raman Singh and score over their rivals from BPGC.
For Willingdon Sports Club, Aman Taragi scored full points in the singles, before their pairings of Akshay Khilachand and Hirhshikesh Thackersey and Shabbir Rawjee and Kushal Thackersey won their foursomes encounter to keep them abreast of the leaders.
BPGC, who scored maximum points in the singles, could not maintain the momentum in the foursomes and fourballs and found themselves trailing, while Poona Golf Club, who failed to open their account in the singles, and managed only ½ a point in the foursomes, performed incredibly well in the fourballs to finish with a respectable total.
Results: U S Club 14 ½ (Singles 4 ½, Foursomes 5, Fourballs 5); WSC 14 ½ (Singles 3 ½, Foursomes 4, Fourballs 7); BPGC 11 ½ (5 ½, Foursomes 3, Fourballs 3) PGC 10 (Singles 0, Foursomes ½, Fourballs 9 ½).