BPGC emerge champs

MUMBAI, NOV 22: Bombay Presidency Golf Club BPGC team of Padmanabh Bendre, SS Loomba and A Castellino emerged leaders in the Western Regio...

MUMBAI, NOV 22: Bombay Presidency Golf Club BPGC team of Padmanabh Bendre, SS Loomba and A Castellino emerged leaders in the Western Region finals of the Johnnie Walker International Golf Club championship which concluded today at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club, here.

The trio finished with a total team score of 442.8 at the end of the two-day event. The host team was closely followed by the Narmada Golf Links squad of Pradip Patel, Vijay Chauhan and Sudhir Patel who with a total score of 445 ended runners-up.

Overnight leaders, Poona Golf Club were relegated to the third spot with a score of 453.

It was a fine comeback for BPGC as they were struggling at fifth position after the first 18 holes yesterday. But things changed remarkably today as they seemed to find their rhythm back. Castellino, with a net score of 70, was most impressive amongst the winners. Teammate Bendre also won a prize for best individual score in the 17-24 handicap category with a gross score of 186. 8220;I was bit nervousyesterday but today was different,8221; said a smiling Bendre after the match. He attributed his better tee-shots and short game for the good performance today.

Also among the individual winners were Willingdon Sports Club8217;s Akshay Kilachand with a gross of 158 handicap 0-9 category and Poona Club Golf Course8217;s Kumar Gera, gross 165, in the 10-16 category.

The teams of BPGC and Narmada Golf Links now move east, to Calcutta, for the National finals to be played on December 5 amp; 6.

Final scores

1. Bombay Presidency Golf Club A Castellino, S Loomba, Padmanabh Bendre 442.8; 2. Narmada Golf Links, Bharuch Pradeep Patel, Vijay Chauhan, Sudhir Patel 445; 3. Poona Club Golf Course Ikram Khan, Kumar Gera, Vijay Shah 453; 4. Willingdon Sports Club Akshay Kilachand, Jai Sheth, Sanjay Ruia 454.6; 5. Army Golf Club, Ahmedabad Parthiv Mehta, Devang Shah, Col HPS Bedi 454.8; 6. Army Golf Club, Bhopal Omar F Ali, Shekar Mehra, Amit Agarwal 455.8; 7 RSI Golf Club, Pune R Chavan, J Malik, Lt ColSunil Thapa 462.8; 8. Gaekwad Baroda Golf Club Ashish Patel, Jaivikram Singh, Yash Shah