WHEN the amateurs play, the greens are safe. For, the golfers do not burn them with their not so hot putting.
That was the case in the National Games golf competition, as Harjinder Singh Kang of Punjab shot a one-over on the final day, but clinched the gold with a four-stroke margin at the Chandigarh golf course.
He was on par after three rounds, and Kang started the final day with a positive frame of mind. He fired birdies on the second and eighth holes, but three bogeys, including two on the back nine pulled him down a bit. But this did not stop him from beating fellow-amateurs.
Kang had rounds of 71, 71, 74 and 73 on the four days, for a cumulative total of 289. Vikrant Chopra of Delhi, who shot the best card of the last day with a one-under 71, and Simarjeet Singh of Uttar Pradesh, who shot a five-over 77, tied for the second spot with a total of 293.
Simarjeet Singh shot a one-over on the first hole in losing the tie-break for the silver, after he and Vikrant shot a par score on the 18th hole in the play-off.
A. S. Lehal (296) of Punjab, Saurabh Bahuguna (297) of Delhi and Gurbaaz Mann of Punjab (298) took the fourth to sixth spots, as they shot rounds of four-over 76, nine-over 81 and par 72 respectively on the last day.
Lehal had got off to a great start, with a four-under 68 on the opening day, but could not recapture such form thereafter.
Punjab clinched the team gold with an 18-stroke lead over Delhi. Chandigarh took the bronze, a further 17 strokes behind.
The results: 1. H. S. Kang (Punj) (71, 71, 74, 73) 289; 2. Vikrant Chopra (Del) (77, 73, 72, 71) 293; 3. Simarjeet Singh (UP) (75, 72, 69, 77) 293.
Team: 1. Punjab (Gurbaaz Mann, H. S. Kang, A. S. Lehal, Jaskirat S. Dullet) (212, 217, 225, 221) 875; 2. Delhi (Vikrant Chopra, Gagan Verma, Vikram Rana, Saurabh Bahuguna) (227, 221, 217, 228) 893; 3. Chandigarh (Harinder Gupta, Girish Virk, Sandeep Sandhu, Vikramjit Singh) (227, 219, 228, 236) 910.
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