Bengaluru: Cricketer Karun Nair and sports commentator Charu Sharma were among the prizewinners on day three of the 10th Sara Futura Karnataka Golf Festival (KGF) being played at the Karnataka Golf Association (KGA) course. The other highlight from Saturday was the interactive golf clinic session conducted by woman professional golfers Neha Tripathi and Anisha Padukone.
Karun, who represents Karnataka in domestic cricket, won the Longest Drive contest with a monster drive of 275 yards on hole number nine. Karun is a serious amateur golfer and has spoken a lot about how the game helps him in developing a sense of individual responsibility, which can often be difficult to develop in a team sport. Charu Sharma claimed the runner-up spot in the 11-15-handicap category with a net score of 32 points. Former Indian cricketer Ajit Agarkar was the other non-golf sports star to tee-off at the KGA on Saturday.
Saturday’s big winners however were Vittal Bhandari in the 21-24-handicap category with a net score of 33 points, T.S. Devaiah (16-20, 36 points), Capt. Abdul Gafoor (11-15, 32 points), Rajendra Patil (6-10, 34 points) and Milesh Jamburao (0-5, 36 points).
The KGF also serves as the Official Qualifiers for the World Amateur Golfers Championship (WAGC), the world’s largest amateur championship, scheduled in Johor, Malaysia, in late October.
One best golfer from each of the five handicap categories across the four days will get the honour of representing India in Malaysia.
Sunday, the final day of the 10th Sara Futura KGF will see cricketers Subramaniam Badrinath, Venkatapathy Raju, Akul Balaji and Sujith Somasundar teeing off at the KGA. Over 500 golfers are participating in the 10th Sara Futura KGF, more than 100 of whom are from around 16 different cities.
