Jamshedpur: Amandeep Drall of Chhandigarh came through a tense and exciting play-off against the National champion, Aditi Ashok, to bag her first title of the season at the USHA Eastern India Ladies Golf on Sunday. Starting the day tied with Aditi at six-over 148, Amandeep won the first play-off hole to take the title after both were tied at 76 for the day and 11-over 224 total for three days.
Millie Saroha (75), who needed a birdie on the 18th hole in regulation play, managed only a par and ended third at 225.
Former Asian Games 800m gold medalist, Charles Borromeo of Tata Steel, was the chief guest and he gave away the prizes at the Golmuri Golf Course.
Seher Atwal played a fine final round of 74 was fourth at 229 alongwith Gurbani Singh (76). Ridhima Dilawari (75) was sixth at 230 while Gursimar Badwal (75) ad Raksha Phadke (82) tied for seventh at 233.
When play began on the final day both Amandeep and Aditi were tied at six-over. Amandeep bogeyed the first hole, but Aditi did likewise at the second. Then Aditi suddenly raced ahead as she benefitted from two-shot swings on the third and fourth, where she birdied and Amandeep bogeyed.
But Amandeep, who was winless this season, kept her cool and birdied the sixth to narrow the gap to three. Then it was Aditi’s turn to falter as she double bogeyed the par-5 seventh, which Amandeep safely parred to reduce the gap to one.
When they reached the tenth, Aditi was one ahead, but she bogeyed the par-5 11th and both were alevel once again. A birdie from Amandeep on the par-4 13th put her ahead for the first time. The two girls then played neck and neck. Playing nervously they both bogeyed the next three holes and parred the 17th.
At the 18th tee, Amandeep held a one-shot advantage, but she dropped a shot and Aditi holed her par putt to send the match into a play-off. But in the play-off, Amandeep held her nerve and grabbed the title.
Millie Saroha (75) had the consolation of topping Group A with Gurbani second, but Aditi took Category B honours, where Seher Atwal was second.
In Category C, Riya Ahuja (83) beat Arushi Pandey to the top honours with a total of 251, while in Category D, Tanishka Kumar (88) was the winner at 261 with Esha Sharma (90) finishing second.
Usha, a major supporter of Indian golf, is proud of its long-term association with the sport, covering the entire spectrum of the game. Usha has been associated with ladies golf for over 25 years, and today is the nationwide sponsor of the entire Indian Golf Union (IGU) Ladies Tour. In addition, Usha is committed to supporting golf at the Juniors level, sponsoring IGU Junior tournaments in Delhi, Bangalore, Chandigarh, and is closely associated with the Junior Training Program (JTP) at the Delhi Golf Club.
Usha sponsored the 33rd Queen Sirikit Cup Championship in New Delhi in 2011 – the most important women’s amateur golf event in the Asia Pacific region. Usha sponsored the Honda Siel PGA Championship from 1991 - 2000. Usha’s Co-Chairman, Mr. Siddharth Shriram, was President of the Professional Golf Association for eight years.
With golf being included in the 2016 Olympics for the first time, Usha’s aim is to assist in bringing home a medal!
Usha International Limited markets the following products under the USHA brand name: kitchen appliances, cooktops, hoods and hobs, water coolers and water dispensers, inverters, fans, sewing machines, engines and pumpsets, electrical motors and pumps and auto components.
By Indian Sports News Network
