PUNE: From swinging a golf club for fun in his childhood days to holding a full card on the Asian Tour, Veer Ahlawat has come a long way. Growing up Ahlawat was exposed to a variety of sports, thanks to his father Yashpal Ahlawat being a Colonel in the army.
"Until my fifth class I played basketball and then till 10th I played football. My father used to play golf and I would just go hit a few balls with him and his friends. I liked it but I didn't fall in love with it," the younger Ahlawat said on Wednesday, after carding 3-under 63 in the opening round of the Pune Open on the PGTI Tour.
"I would just play golf for an hour and go on to play other sports with my friends. We were in Shillong at that time (2008) and it was only after we moved to Delhi in 2010 that I really started taking golf seriously.
"In Delhi there were more kids of my age who played golf. That was the main reason."
In a way, it's football's loss and golf's gain.
Having begun comparatively late, Ahlawat didn't have a remarkable career as a junior or an amateur. But becoming pro was a turning point for the youngster.
"My game began to improve when I became an amateur. I finished second in Mauritius in 2015 and in the IGU (national championship). I turned pro after that, and I started becoming even better from there," said Ahlawat, who is coached by Anitya Chand in Gurgaon.
The 26-year-old won his first and only professional title so far on the PGTI Tour at the Indian Oil Serve Masters in 2019 and has had four top-10 finishes on the Asian Tour -- two each in 2020-21 and 2022 seasons.
If the fifth-place finish at Singapore Open -- "I was tied for the lead with a few holes to go in the final round" -- in January this year secured his card for the current season, an eighth-place finish at Taiwan Masters has more or less assured of his 2023 card.
"Taiwan was a short course, so putting wasn't very easy. Finishing eighth there was very good for my confidence," Ahlawat, who is playing on the PGTI Tour to fulfil the minimum requirement of seven events to be eligible to play the Indian Open early next year, said.
"Besides the four top-10 finishes, I have also been very close to getting into the top-10 a couple of times. I need to put together four good rounds.
"After Singapore last year, I know I can play on the Asian Tour. I know if I play my 'A' game, I can make those four good rounds.
"I have saved my card for 2023. My aim now is to finish in the top-30 so that I qualify for the year-ender. There are four or five events remaining.
"I need one more good finish. Actually, I would like to win a title."
Delhi's Kapil Kumar leads curtailed first round
Delhi’s Kapil Kumar emerged as the leader at the end of the first day of the sixth Pune Open golf championship after carding a seven-under 59 at the Poona Golf Club on Wednesday.
The impact of the heavy rains, which forced the cancellation of the pro-am on Tuesday, extended to the first round with play commencing an hour and half later than the scheduled start time of 7 am.
The round remained unfinished due to fading light.
Waterlogging in some stretches meant the par-4 hole No. 6 was not played and hole No. 5 was reduced from par 4 to par 3. Consequently, the overall par for the round was reduced to 66 over 17 holes.
Chandigarh’s Angad Cheema was placed second with 6-under 60 while Mysore’s Aalaap IL and Bengaluru’s M Dharma were tied for third with 5-under 61.
Ten players -- including the Sri Lankan trio of Mithun Perera, N Thangaraja and K Prabagaran along with Indians Gaurav Pratap Singh, Om Prakash Chouhan, Aman Raj, Sagar Raghuvanshi, Mohd. Azhar, Yuvraj Singh Sandhu and Olympian Udayan Mane -- were tied for fifth at 4-under.
