Gurbani wins Usha Golf title by 7 strokes

A sublime Gurbani Singh returned to winning ways after a gap of almost three months at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club (BPGC) course, where she carded a one under 70 on the final day of the Usha All India Ladies and Junior Girls Amateur Golf Championship here Thursday.

Delhi-based Gurbani finished the tournament with an overall score of 209, a huge seven shots clear of Bangalore's Aditi Ashok, who ended up second on the leaderboard. Beginning the day with a five shot advantage, all Gurbani had to do was play consistent golf and the confidence showed as she raised her game a notch, carding the first and only sub-par round of the tournament.

In fact, she did not have a single over par round at the BPGC, which stands testimony to her golfing abilities. Aditi carded her best round of the tournament (one over 71) and improved through the three days, but it was not enough to upstage her closest rival on tour.

With this win, Gurbani cemented her position at the top of the Indian Golf Union (IGU) Ladies Amateur Golf Tour Order of Merit list. Aditi also consolidated her second position on the list.

Gauri Monga, who came into the tournament in a rich vein of form, securing three victories in three months on the tour as well as a creditable fifth place finish in the Indian Open finished a tame fifth with a score of 225. Gursimar Badwal (220) and Ridhima Dilawari (224) finished in third and fourth positions respectively.

Aditi also won the Category A section of the tournament with Ridhima finishing second. Category B witnessed some excitement when eventual winner Ananya Datar and Shruti Shenoy both finished with identical scores of 245 to force a playoff. Ananya eventually came through in the third playoff hole. Sifat Sagoo (247) prevailed over Pranavi Urs (251) in the Category C section.