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Maharashtra junior boys golf: Pune lad Negi in the quest for podium after shooting 4 over 75 on Day 3
Tanmay Negi’s score over three days is 11 over 224, placing him sixth on leaderboard in category A
Sixteen-year-old Pune golfing sensation Tanmay Negi continued to remain in the hunt for a podium finish with a 4 over 75 performance on Day 3 of the IGU Maharashtra junior boys golf championship 2019 held at the Poona Golf Course in Yerwada on Thursday.
Negi started the day on a slow note, ducking bogeys on holes 1, 3 and 4. However, he quickly seemed to get his act together, playing bogey-free for the remainder of the holes on the front 9.
After the break, Negi seemed a bit different, hitting the ball cleanly into the green and even managed a birdie on the 17th hole.
Ending the day as the highest-ranked Pune player in his age group, Negi said, “The first four holes were actually pretty disappointing. I did not manage to gain the momentum I needed to have a good day. After that, I managed to get in the slot and started playing better. I was going to shot a 1 under in the back 9, but I bogeyed my final hole.”
The teenage golfer teed off at 9:42 am and stated that it wasn’t as windy as it was on Wednesday. However, closer to noon it began to pick up which put him at a slight disadvantage compared to the players that teed off before him.
Over the three days, Negi’s score has gone up to 11 over 224, placing him sixth on the leaderboard in category A (16 to18 years).
He is currently hot on the tails of Delhi’s Raghav Chugh and Karnataka’s Ananjan Kaushik (both tied 4th at 8 over 221). Another Delhi golfer Shaurya Bhattacharya is within touching distance sitting at third place with a score of 7 over 220 at the end of Day 3.
In category B (13 to 15 years), Pune golfers Shlok Jain and Sudaay Chaloo put in mediocre performances to remain a country mile behind the leader Milind Soni from Karnataka who submitted a par 71 card to end Day 3 with a par-213 score.
Jain hit two bogeys and birdied one on the front 9 to put himself in contention for a podium finish, but due to some questionable stroke play on the back 9 which saw him commit a plethora of errors saw him nail two double bogeys along with a couple of bogeys to end the day in 6th place with a 24 over 237 score.
Chaloo, on the other hand, began the first, third and fourth holes of the day with a bogey before hitting a double bogey on hole 5.
In the back 9, he seemed to opt for safe gameplay, but the damage from the first 9 holes had already taken its toll as the youngster ended the day in 9th spot with a 26-over 239 score.
Shlok Jain: “It was an average day but I putted better in the back 9 than I previously have and I felt my approach shots could’ve been better. It was towards the back end at the 16th and 18th where I hit double bogeys and that put me out of contention.”
Sudaay Chaloo: “My performance was all right. I made a few silly mistakes at the start and could’ve improved. The greens were playing really quick and the fairways were playing pretty good too. If I would’ve found some more fairways I could’ve played better for sure.”