The hugely popular US Kids Golf India Tour returns to action this week with back-to-back events on October 21 and 22. The events will be held at the iconic ITC Classic Golf and Country Club. The US Kids Golf North Tour will feature eight events which have been broken into four segments of two events each to be held back-to-back.

The US Kids Golf India Tour will have a new Tournament Director in Amit Dube.

“This season, the North Tour will be held at the Championship course at the ITC Classic Golf Resort,” said Dube, a former Indian pro on the Indian and Asian Tour who is now also a highly respected coach.

Nursery for champions

Rajesh Srivastava, President of the US Kids Golf India, said, “The tournaments in India offer Indian children a chance to play at home and qualify for the world class events in US and Europe. Previously, kids had to travel abroad to gain this priority status.”

The US Kids Golf India offers young golfers a chance to earn priority status while playing at home. Earlier they had to travel to events in Malaysia and elsewhere to qualify for US Kids World Championships at Pinehurst, which hosted the US Open in the recent past, and also the US Kids Europe, which has events at courses like the Renaissance, Gullane and Musselburgh, which have hosted Scottish Opens and British Open qualifiers.

Entries and spots to US Kids World Championships in Pinehurst and to events in Europe are decided on the basis of priority status earned on the basis of positions and scores on the US Kids Golf Tour India and outside.

He added, “The return to action after almost 20 months has come after we got a green signal from the world body of the US Kids Golf in the US. We will be following all Covid protocols and giving our children the very best in terms of championship courses and facilities.

“The previous events had attracted a huge number of entries and the response has once again been overwhelming.”

Professional facilities

In India, the golfers have almost always played at Championship and designer courses.

Another highlight of the US Kids Golf India is that the golfers play off age-specific yardages and US Kids Golf equipment is also made available in India.

Srivastava said, “The idea is to give the kids the very best at a very early age, so that they do not get overawed when they get to the courses in Europe and the US.”

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He added, “When they qualify for In-Europe they get to play at courses like Renaissance Club and Gullane, which have hosted European Tour events like Scottish Open or Musselburgh, which has hosted British Open qualifiers. The US Kids Golf World Championships is held in Pinehurst and they play where Majors have been played.”

Dube added, “Our aim is to provide the children top class courses, just like what they will experience as they grow in the sport. The yardages, as in the two earlier seasons, will be age-specific and we are always at hand to advise and help the young golfers bloom into world champions.”

Background

The US Kids Golf Tour which made its entry into India in 2018-19 and helped a huge number of youth play the US Kids events at Europe and the United States, had to halt its events following the outbreak of the pandemic.

It is meant for young amateurs from the age of six to 18 and had its last big event, the US Kids Indian Championship, at the Jack Nicklaus signature course at ITC Classic Resort in March 2020.

The event with more than 100 participants was a massive success and in terms of status was equivalent of the US Kids Europe event in Venice, which has been held for many years.

The US Kids Golf Tour which made its entry into India in 2018-19 and helped a huge number of youth play the prestigious US Kids events at world renowned courses Europe and the United States, has been the road to big events in Us and Europe for many Indian children.

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