Global Golf Post - February 22, 2010

PUNE, INDIA | The challenges on a golf
course seem small to Seenappa (Chik-
ka) Chikkarangappa (pictured above)
compared to the ones he has faced in
life. His father, Seenappa, a mason, and
mother, Revamma, a daily-wage worker,
warned him early: “Golf is a rich man’s
game.” But while picking stray golf balls
over the weekends and working as a
forecaddie, he could not help falling in
love with the game.
His journey, which began in 2004,
reached its first milestone this past
weekend at the 109th LG All India Ama-
teur where Chikka, at 16, became the
youngest winner of the championship
that dates back to 1892. He prevailed 5
and 4 in the 36-hole final over Delhi lad
Bhnaupratap Singh at the par-72 Oxford
Golf and Country Club
It was Chikka’s second win on the LG
Amateur Tour, with the first one coming
last year at the LG Karnataka Open at his
home club, Eagleton GC, in the village of
Rangagoadanaddi. For Singh, despite los-
ing, it was a dream week as he registered
his best finish on the amateur circuit.

V Krishnaswamy

HOT LIU ADDS HONG KONG
CLOSE AMATEUR TITLE

Konstantin Liu Lok-tin continued
his fine play of late, running away from
the field with a 10-stroke victory in the
Montrose Fine Wines Hong Kong Close
Amateur Championship Feb. 16th at the
Hong Kong Golf Club’s New Course in
Fanling. The 16-year-old won the China
Junior Open two weeks earlier at Hainan
Island, which earned him a spot in the
field for the European Tour’s Hong Kong
Open in November. Former champion
Max Wong Chen-kun finished a distant
second, but claimed the Mid-Amateur
title, which was played in conjunction
with the Close Amateur. RESULTS
NEW ZEALAND ROUTS AUSTRALIA
TO RETAIN SANCTUARY COVE CUP

Virginian Keith Decker and Floridian Chris Reeves cruised to a
seven-shot victory Sunday in the 54th annual International Four-Ball
at the Fox Club in Palm City, Fla. Their three-day total in this 54-hole
better-ball event was 195. Tom Parker and John Blackwell finished
second. And Rocky Costa and Robbie Dew took third in a scorecard
playoff with Nathan Smith and Frank Fairman.
"We weren't trying to protect our lead," Decker said. But he and his
partner Reeves, who works as an assistant manager at an Edwin Watts
golf store in North Palm Beach, were never headed.
Reeves and Decker had doubled their lead Saturday during the sec-
ond round, posting a 64 for 126 to increase their advantage in the mid-
am division six strokes. “We are teaming well and we haven’t made a
bogey in two days and don’t plan to Sunday either,” Decker said.
“We had to grind it a little more today than we did yesterday,” when
they shot 10 under 62, Decker added. “The course played a little lon-
ger and the greens were
a little faster.” Decker
eagled the par- 5 12th hole,
their third of the day, with
driver, 3-iron and a 30-foot
putt. He added four birdies
and Reeves made two and
several par-saving putts.
In January, Decker and
Virginia's Pat Tallent won
the National Senior-Junior
Amateur Team Champion-
ship at The Dye Preserve in
Jupiter, Fla.
In the Senior Division at
the Fox Club, Chip Lutz and
Chris Lang won by three
shots. Lutz, who lives in
Pennsylvania, played junior
golf with Lang, who win-
ters in Boynton Beach, Fla.
The two both recently turned 55 and stamped themselves as players to
be reckoned with in that division. The highlight to their final round was
birdies on the 11th, 12th and 13th holes. RESULTS