Amit Bhattacharya claims Alfa Laval golf title

Pune, Feb 11 (UNI) Little known Amit Bhattacharya (-12) made remarkable recovery to gross a tally of 38 points, getting the better of veteran Micky Bharucha (-13), to claim the title in the Silver Division of the Swedish multinational Alfa Laval Invitation Golf tournament at the Poona Club course here today.

In the Bronze Division, Chetan Rigzin (-20) bagged the top honours with a card of 42 points, while Juger Lokhandwala (-28) was placed second with a total of 40 points to his credit.

In the women's section, Vidya Joshi (-24) emerged topper with a tally of 36 points, and H J Ha (-30) took the second slot aggregating 35 points.

Amit overcame the pressure and made fine recovery on the back nine to accumulate a tally of 38 points. On the other hand, Bharucha, who knew the course like the back of his hand, faltered at crucial moments. He mustered a score of 39 points to be placed runners-up. Amit had seven pars on the front nine and excelled on the back nine to be two-under to come out victor.

Amit, later talking to mediapersons, said he could have done much better but for the double bogey on the third and seventh holes on the front-nine which made his task difficult. He, however, expressed satisfaction that he had one birdie and 10 pars in his display which fetched him the first title of the season.

The other prize winners were veteran golfers Mohanlal who pocketed the ''Longest Drive on 14th Hole'' trophy. The ''Nearest to the Pin on Hole 16'' was bagged by Ajay Joshi.

A total of 60 golfers from IT, corporates and industries vied for honours in the annual meet which was played on simple Stable Ford format.

Alfa Laval managing director Nish Patel, himself an ardent golfer, gave away the prizes.

The results: Silver Division: Amit Bhattacharya (-12) 38 pts -- winner, M P Bharucha (-13) 39 pts -- runners-up.

Women: Vidya Joshi (-24) 35 pts -- winner, H J Ha (-30) 36 pts -- runners-up Bronze Division: Chetan Rigzen (-20) 42 pts -- winner, Juger Lokhandwala (-28) 40 pts -- runners-up.

Longest Drive on Hole 14: Mohanlal -- winner.

Nearest to the Pin on Hole 16: Ajay Joshi (34 ft/5 inc) -- winner.

UNI