Kang clinches LG Samarvir Sahi Amateur Golf Championship

Chandigarh, Oct 20 (UNI) Local lad HS Kang of Oil India clinchedd the LG Samarvir Sahi Amateur Golf Championship at the par-72 Chandigarh Golf Club, here today.

Kang shot a final round three under 69 to finish with a tournament tally of 293, four strokes clear of second placed Tarun Ghogale and Abhijeet Singh Chadha.

Ghogale brought in an impressive final round card of 69 while Chadha carded a 73 today.

Overnight leader Simarjeet Singh had a disappointing final round card of eight over 80 to finish tied fourth with Karan Vasudeva at 299.

Abhishek Jha of Oil India returned the day's best card of 68 to finish sixth at 300 while Manav Das had to contend with the seventh place at 301 after carding a final round 75.

Hamza Yunus finished eighth at 306, while Bhawani Parmar and Gagan Verma ended tied ninth at 307.

Kang stayed relaxed throughout his round and fought off some inner demons to capture his first title on the LG Indian Amateur Golf circuit.

''It's pretty hard to believe,'' Kang said adding ''Obviously, you dream about winning your home tournament''.

''To have it actually happen, once it sinks in, it's pretty special,'' he said.

Kang started badly with a triple bogey on the fifth. A birdie on the seventh saw him make the turn at two over, two strokes behind Simarjeet. He, however, birdied the 10th and 11th and saved par on the 12th to surge into the lead.

''The 12th hole was turning point of the match. I managed to save par while Simarjeet dropped two shots on the hole in question to squander the lead,'' said Kang who then birdied the 14th while Simarjeet dropped shots on the 16th and 18th.

Tarun Ghogale started his round with a bogey on the first where he three putted from 10 feet. However, birdies on the second, fifth and sixth saw him make the turn at two under. On his return journey, Ghogale bogeyed the 14th but bounced back in style to birdie the 15th and 18th.

''I was nine strokes behind the leader going into the final round but everything fell into place today,'' said Ghogale.

Chandigarh's Abhijeet Chadha who was playing his first amateur tournament had a birdie on the sixth as he turned at one under. On the back nine, he dropped shots on the 11 th and 12th but fired a birdie on the 13th where he sank a 40 footer left to right uphill putt. A bogey on the 18th, where he overshot the green saw him end at tied second position.

Simarjeet never found his rhythm today. He had bogeys on the first, fourth, fifth, ninth, 16th, 17th, 18th and a double bogey on the 12th. A lone birdie on the sixth was the only saving grace on an otherwise forgetful final day for him.

Scores (After 72 holes): 293 HS Kang (75, 74, 75, 69); 297 Tarun Ghogale (78, 76, 74, 69), Abhijit Singh Chadha (75, 75, 74); 299 Karan Vasudeva (76, 74, 75, 74), Simarjeet Singh (72, 73, 74, 80); 300 Abhishek Jha (74, 80, 78, 68); 301 Manav Das (79, 74, 73, 75); 306 Hamza Yunus (77, 80, 77, 72); 307 Bhawani Parmar (79, 79, 76, 73), Gagan Verma (78, 75, 76, 78); 308 Pawan Kumar (79, 79, 77, 73), Aman Guron (78, 75, 78, 77), Vikram Rana (81, 72, 77, 78), 310 Rakesh Kumar (82, 78, 75, 75), Sanjeev Singh (79, 75, 78, 78), Dipankar Kaushal (74, 72, 80, 84).

UNI