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Young golfer set for a big birdie
WSN Bureau
 Chandigarh: Two
weeks ago, success was not even a stroke on a canvas for
nine-year-old Karandeep Singh. Who in the lastweek of June could
have envisaged a young golfer winning on the Coastal Junior Golf
Tour in United States of America? Fast forward to the first week of
July and Karandeep Kochhar has made this happen by lifting the
winning trophy in the 9-10 years age group in the golf championship
during the Coastal Junior Golf Tour on July 3 at the Beau Rivage
Resort, Wilmington.
Being the lone
Indian participating in the championship, the reception that
Karandeep received in the galleries of Beau Rivage Resort told its
own story as how luck also played its part in the nine-year-old
triumph. “I was off for vacations with my family to US and I
happened to see the website of the tour one day. I filled the
application form and participated in the tournament. It was for the
first time that I was participating in an international tournament
in my age group,” says a confident Karandeep with memories still
afresh of the win in his mind. “Most of the courses in US are rough
and they have a lot of bunkers. The conditions at the course were
very windy and they were tough for a golfer like me, as I was not
practicing much during vacations,” shares Karandeep Kochhar who
started playing golf at age of four with encouragement from his
grandfather, Dr. GS Kochhar.
A title in his age group category in
the Chandigarh Golf Club Championship this year was the first sign
of improvement for this budding golfer since he started taking golf
seriously. “So, far golf has worked out for me perfectly. I just
started playing golf on seeing my grandfather play and one day I
joined him at the golf course. Since then, we play almost daily and
the last few months have been great for me,” says Karandeep who is
currently studying in fourth standard in St John's High School,
Sector 26. And the Chandigarh based golfer is not content with his
maiden international win. “I will continue playing in the junior
circuit in India and I hope that we will again be going for a
vacation next year. In that case, I will be able to participate in
more tournaments like these,” feels Karandeep.
While Karandeep
still has to become a household name in the local golf circuit, his
coach Jessi Grewal feels that the youngster will go places if
handled well. “He is a talented guy and the best part about his game
is that he puts a lot of stress on the mental aspect also. Nowadays,
I am just checking how persistent he could be on the golf course and
then we will prepare a specialised programme for him. He needs to
play more and more tournaments,” feels the coach.
16
July, 2008
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