U.S. Kids Golf Malaysia Local Tour 2023
Presented By Mazda

World’s largest junior golf event converges on The Home of American Golf

Golf’s majors are over for 2023, or are they? Technically, the sport’s biggest stages for professionals ended over the weekend with the conclusion of the historic British Open. But there will be some pretty heady golf being played in Pinehurst, North Carolina, over the next two weeks with more than 2,200 junior players ages 5-18 competing in the U.S. Kids Golf World Championships. The U.S. Kids World Teen Championship for ages 13-18 will be held July 27-29, while the U.S. Kids World Championship for ages 5-12 is slated for Aug. 3-5.
PGA Tour stars such as Justin Thomas and Collin Morikawa have competed on the U.S. Kids world stage over the years. In fact, over one-third of the players in this year’s U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open have come through Pinehurst over the last 17 years. Few places in the country have the golfing bandwidth to execute such a massive event like the Pinehurst area, with the tournament tapping into 14 area courses that are all within a 30-minute car ride from the resort steps. And there are some generous donations that show the area’s true support for the game’s future. For example, more than 500 volunteers will work the event, while the Country Club of North Carolina — one of the state’s more prestigious and exclusive private clubs — donated 20,000 bottles of water to keep the golfers hydrated as temperatures soar into the high 90s across the Sandhills. And the Convention & Visitors Bureau – Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Aberdeen Area has been a staunch supporter of the world championships for close to two decades. “It is such a pleasure to see our town light up with this amazing young talent in the golf world,” CCNC general manager Don Hunter says. “It is the healthiest thing for the future of the sport.”
Some of the golfers may get an opportunity to play Pinehurst No. 2, which will host the 2024 U.S. Open. One such player is Ike Rothman, of New York, a 15-year-old who will compete in the World Teen Championship this week with the hopes of advancing the final day to the top of his age bracket in order to play the famed layout. Rothman got into last year’s World Teen Championship at the 11th hour after shooting a 70 in a local tournament two weeks before the big stage was set in Pinehurst. He finished in the middle of the pack, good enough to earn another invitation to compete against the world’s best junior golfers. “It’s very interesting playing against people from all over the country and all over the world,” Rothman says. “It’s not something you get to experience on the normal basis at home. It’s a completely different feeling than a normal tournament.” “When you go to Pinehurst all these kids are experienced and it feels more like a Tour event,” father Evan Rothman says. “Ike was the last player in the field last year and as soon as the invitation came in this year we signed up in like 10 seconds to make sure we were on the list.”
Much like travel baseball or soccer, there is a major financial and time investment from not only the junior golfers but family members. Those attending average over four people traveling per family and they will spend an average of $8,000-$8,500 on travel expenses for the World Championships. The anticipated economic impact to the Pinehurst area is over $14 million for 2023. The expenses range from entry fees to food to lodging to hiring a caddy to help navigate unfamiliar course and hopefully gain an advantage on the field. And of course shopping in the Pinehurst Resort pro shop. While most participants are from the United States, Mexico, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and South Africa, there are also competitors from countries such as El Salvador, Armenia, Uruguay, Estonia, Slovakia, Barbados, China, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay and Nicaragua, according to Peter Stilwell, whose company, Tarheel Communications, has organized the outside-the-ropes operations of the event in Pinehurst for the last 18 years. “When it was played at Williamsburg, Virginia, there were five golf courses and now we play on 14, so it’s an amazing event,” Stilwell says. “I mean it’s a lot of work to put together, but when you see all these kids come here they’re like miniature PGA Tour and LPGA players. They have mannerisms like professional players; they have keen golf etiquette and they’re really focused on winning and focused on playing the game. And U.S. Kids Golf works hard to make sure to try to strike a balance of having fun combined with serious competition, and making sure kids get an opportunity to get into the game.”
The first world championship in 2002 in Virginia drew just 220 players from five countries. Now, the parent organization U.S. Kids Golf operates 2,000 tournaments and championships across the United States and the world, with over 30,000 young golfers participating. Just in the Pinehurst area over the next two weeks, a combined 48,000 miles will be walked by competitors — equivalent to twice around the world — and 160,000 holes will be played. “The participant numbers and their level of competition are greater every year for our tournaments,” says Chris Vonderkall, vice president of tournaments for U.S. Kids Golf Foundation, noting this year’s 18 percent increase in worldwide participation. “We are seeing players from over 55 different countries competing in our events, which is a testament to our global impact. Internationally, our competitions inspire players and provide families with memorable golf experiences while teaching sportsmanship, discipline and goal setting.”
Taken from – https://www.firstcallgolf.com/features/feature/2023-07-25/worlds-largest-junior-golf-event-converges-on-the-home-of-american-golf
Ten Indians set for US Kids Teen World Championships

After a superb show in Europe, Indian juniors are set for the US Kids Golf World Teen Championships to be followed by the US Kids Golf World Championships for young golfers between the ages of six and 12. Ten Indians will feature in the US Kids Golf World Teen Championships and another 12 will tee up at US Kids Worlds for Boys and Girls six to 12. Most have qualified through the Indian Local Tour or the European Championships in May-June, 2023. The Boys 13 group has Kartik Singh, Arshvant Srivastava and Vihaan Jain, while the Boys 14 will have Ranveer Mitroo, Tejas Mishra and Udai Aditya Middha. In Boys 15-18, it will be Ranveer Singh Dhupia. The three girls this week are Asara Sawhney (Girls 13) Mahreen Bhatia (Girls 13) and Lavanya Gupta (Girls 15-18).
Following the three-day championship, there will be the Van Horn Cup, featuring the top players from each age group at Pinehurst No. 2.
Leading the Indian challenge in Boys 13, considered to be the toughest section, is Kartik Singh, the recently crowned Champion at the FCG Callaway World Junior 2023 in Boys 13-14 at Rancho Mirage. He shot 15-under 201 to earn a two-shot victory. He also played the US Junior Amateurs but missed the cut. Arshvant Srivastava playing the US Kids Worlds for the fifth time has finished on the podium in Europe and been in Top-10 twice before at Worlds and in Top15 each time. Kartik was third in 2019 and eighth in 2017. They progressed from Boys 7 into teens over the last six years and Boys 13 also includes Vihaan Jain. At the US Kids European Championships, Harjai Milkha Singh, son of the Indian golfing legend, Jeev Milkha Singh won the Boys 13, but has skipped the Worlds due to school. Gurgaon golfer Mahreen Bhatia finished second in Girls 13 and is back again this week to make a bid for the World Championships. Bengaluru’s Adit Veeramachaneni was fourth in Boys 9, while Vihaan Jain was T-5th in Boys 13 and Arshvant Srivastava was seventh in the same section. Ananyaa Sood was fifth in Girls 12 and Naina Kapoor was T-8th in Girls 11. Overall, India won one win, two seconds, three other Top-5 finishers and two more in Top-10. Of the 16 Indians who teed up during the week at five famous Scottish golf courses, eight finished in Top-8 or better. Chandigarh’s Nihal Cheema finished second in Boys Under-7 and will play next week.
The U.S. Kids Golf World Teen Championship is recognised as a ranked event for the Junior Golf Scoreboard and the American Junior Golf Association besides allowing the players to gain World Amateur Golf Ranking points. World class players emerging from the US Kids include the likes of World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, two-time Major winners Collin Morikawa and Justin Thomas, Sahith Theegala among others while women stars include Lexi Thompson and the latest women’s Major winner, Allisen Corpuz, who won the US Women’s Open last month, is a three time winner and twice runner-up at US Kids. Aditi Ashok, India’s top woman pro, and Avani Prashanth, India’s top amateur also played with distinction at US Kids events.
Indian entrants for World Championships (Boys and Girls 13 to 18):
Boys Under 13 at Longleaf: Kartik Singh, Arshvant Srivastava and Vihaan Jain;
Boys Under 14 at Pinehurst 8: Ranveer Mitroo, Tejas Mishra and Udai Aditya Middha; Boys 15-18 at Pinehurst 4: Ranveer Singh Dhupia
Girls 13 at Pine Needles: Asara Sawhney; Girls 14 at Pinehurst 6: Mahreen Bhatia; Girls 15-18 at Pinehurst 5: Lavanya Gupta.
Next week 12 more Indians will play in the World Championships for Boys and Girls between ages six and 12. That group will include Ojaswini Saraswat who finished second in Girls 9 last year and will compete in Girls 10 this year.
The Indians entries include: Boys Under 6 at Midland Country Club: Nihal Cheema; Boys Under 8 at Mid Pines Back: Divjot Gupta, Kabir Goyal and Sahib Aujla; Boys Under 10 at Legacy Golf Links: Adit Veeramachaneni; Boys Under 11 at Talamore Golf Club: Chaitanya Pandey; Girls Under 7 at Midland Country Club: Ahana Shah and Vedika Bhansali; Girls Under-10 at Southern Pines GC: Ojaswini Saraswat; Girls Under 11 – Pinehurst 6; Naina Kapoor; Girls Under-12 at Pinehurst 5: Shambhavi Chaturvedi and Ananyaa Sood.
Taken from – https://kheltoday.com/golf/ten-indians-set-for-us-kids-teen-world-championships/