Gurugram: It’s a golf course that is giving the heebie-jeebies to seasoned professionals. But even as reputations plummeted, the stocks of a 15-year-and-26-day-old future star skyrocketed.

Kartik Singh was tied-30th after the halfway stage at the International Series India on Saturday. (Asian Tour) Kartik Singh was tied-30th after the halfway stage at the International Series India on Saturday. (Asian Tour)

Kartik Singh became the youngest Indian to make the cut at an international professional tournament as he plotted his way for 36 holes around the treacherous DLF Golf & Country Club layout at four-over-par 148. A brilliant one-under-par 71 in the second round, which eventually finished on Saturday, enabled him to make the cut comfortably at tied-30th place in the $2 million International Series India.

The Gurugram-based teenager also became the fourth youngest on the Asian Tour to make it to the weekend.

It truly was a case of ‘The boy stood on the burning deck’. As mayhem and chaos unfolded all around him, Kartik performed as if he were born to rule the storm. Four-under par through 13 holes, he dropped three shots with a bogey and a double bogey on the diabolical closing stretch, but his place in the third round was never in doubt.

The magnitude of his achievement needs to be measured against two factors – 1. This is the strongest field to have ever assembled for an Indian tournament, and 2. The golf course is absolutely brutal.

Among others, the tournament features the reigning US Open champion and world No12 Bryson DeChambeau – Kartik’s hero. And in the opening round, the scoring average on the par-72 course was 76.313. There were 111 scores of double bogey and 32 worse than that. Bogeys heavily outnumbered birdies – 473 against 313.

“I feel very good, especially with the likes of Bryson, Anirban (Lahiri) and (Joaquin) Neimann, a lot of really good players in the field. Hopefully, I can carry on and play good in the weekend also,” said the youngster who had mostly played junior tournaments until last year.

“Today, my round overall was quite good. Everything was working well. The last few holes weren’t that great, but I’m still happy finishing one-under.”

The remarkable thing about Kartik, who trains at the DLF Golf Academy under Deepinder Khullar, is that he seems to have a knack for playing well on tough golf courses. As a 13-year-old, he became the youngest player to make the cut in the elite Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship at the demanding Royal Melbourne Golf Club, which has one of the firmest greens in the world, and the conditions that week were exacerbated by high winds.

There is a bit more motivation for Kartik this week after he managed to spend some time hitting balls next to DeChambeau at the practice range.

“It seemed very different watching him hit his shots because I am not used to seeing the ball fly that far. The ball is supposed to fall down much before that! His ball just keeps flying,” said Kartik.

“It was motivating. Hopefully, I can increase my distance and get at least closer to him.”

Kartik, who was given a spot this week in the 108-man field as he is the best-ranked player from the host nation (129th) in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, said he did not come into the tournament expecting anything and making the cut was a goal he hoped to achieve.

“Definitely, the goal was to make the cut. I’d now like to see if I can go and finish as high as I can over the next two rounds,” he added moments after receiving a terrific round of applause from the large crowd surrounding the 18th green.

“(The crowd) is a new experience for me. I’m normally used to playing alone. No one cares in the amateur tournaments. But with the fans here, it’s really motivating, and it feels great.”

Write A Comment