Date:30/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/30/stories/2008083056961700.htm

Sport - Golf

Lavery Kumar takes honours

Sports Reporter

— Photo: R. Ragu

THE CHAMPION: Lavery Kumar, who won the Madras ladies golf championship title on Friday.

Chennai: Having built an overwhelming lead over three rounds of the Madras ladies golf championships, Lavery Kumar shot a six-over-par 78 on Friday to seal the open title in the gold division.

The highlight of the round — an engrossing battle for second between Neha Tripathi and Shruti Khanna, separated by a single stroke going into the round — ended with a ruinous final hole for the former, who lost her ball in the rough off the tee.

After teeing off again for her third, she lost another stroke to an air shot (failed to connect) and ended up with four-over for the hole, losing not only the chance to leap-frog to second, but also third place, which went to Shreya Ghei who carded a three-over-par 75 for the round, having started seven strokes behind Neha.

Up until the decisive 18th, the second place changed hands between Shruti and Neha. Neha replied to a bunker-aided double bogey from Shruti on the sixth with one of her own on the ninth, her drive pulling wide of the fairway into knee-high shrubbery. When Shruti missed a short putt for par on the 12th, Neha did the same.

Neha grabbed the same invitation, handed at the very next hole, to draw level. On the 14th, she sunk a birdie chip from the slope of the bunker adjacent to the green, to go one stroke ahead.

However, she bogeyed her 15th and 17th, for which Shruti made her pay, sinking a birdie on the par-five 16th, which would have been an eagle had her lob off the green’s left slope been struck a tad firmer.

In the end, it didn’t matter, lost ball signalling lost cause for Neha.

The final round results: Gold Division: Open (gross scores): 1. Lavery Kumar (Delhi) 302, 2. Shruti Khanna (Delhi) 310, 3. Shreya Ghei (Delhi) 313, 4. Neha Tripathi (Kolkata) 315; Handicap (nett scores): 1. Akriti Singh (Punjab) 279, 2. Lavery 286.

Silver: Open: 1. Prema Ramraj (Chennai) 351, 2. Arya Tikenekar (Pune) 353; Nett: 1. S. Lakshmi (Chennai) 286, 2. Arya 289.