Chandigarh: Having tasted enormous success in 2016, when he won two national level tournaments (Northern India and Karnataka Open) playing in the 15-18 years category for the first time and making cuts in the two professional tournaments where he played as an amateur, even finishing a creditable 16th with a match score of 7-under-273 at CG Open, 15-year-old Aadil Bedi is all set with new goals and plans for 2017.
Talking to Indian Sports News, the Chandigarh golfer talked about the year gone by and about his plans for 2017. Excerpts:
How was 2016 as an year for you?
Aadil: It proved out to be a good year. On professional front, as a player I won two national level tournaments, including the Northern India in December and Karnataka Open in June. I also finished runners up in World Stars of Junior Golf 2016 championship in Las Vegas, USA. Thereafter, I made the cuts in two Pro tournaments that I played in India. At CG Open, I finished 16th, which was very encouraging. So overall it was a great year for me.
Other gains that you made in 2016?
Aadil: Apart from the success in various tournaments, I made vast improvement in my game – both physically and mentally. Yoga and meditation has helped. I have grown taller by 4-5 inches and have developed a lot of strength. Hope to do better in 2017.
How was your experience of playing with pro golfers? Did it help?
Aadil: Professional golf is a different ball game. But I am extremely happy to have rubbed shoulders with the top Asian and Indian professional golfers. If a youngster gets exposure at an early age, it does give him an edge over others. They have a different strategy. They play not to win, but to better their own performances. At junior lever you are supposed to win. The pros don’t have that mindset and that’s what makes them different. They just go out and play. They do not care about winning or losing. The pressure is completely different when you play with the professional golfers. It definitely helped me a lot.
What are your plans for 2017?
Aadil: In 2017, I want to play with bigger players. Basically I will play the amateur tour and go to the US to play in three international tournaments -- IMG World Cup (San Diego, California), World Star of Junior Golf (Los Vegas, Nevada), and Optimist International (Palm Beach Garden, Florida). My aim is to improve my WAGR rankings so that I get the Asia Pacific invite. I want a better ranking as this will also help me to qualify for the Youth Olympics and Asian Games in 2018. I plan to turn pro after the Asian Games. I will play 5-6 tournaments in amateur tour and 9-10 junior tournaments apart from the three international tournaments in 2017. I am also in the four-member Indian squad and hope that the government might take us to a couple of international tournaments like last year where we went for Singha World Junior.
Any specific aim for 2107?
Aadil: Last year I was the runners up in World Stars of Junior Golf. I would like to win the Junior World Cup in the 15-18-year category for India, which will be the first for India in that category.
Whom do you attribute your success to?
Aadil: Apart from my parents, who have sold almost half of their parental properties to meet my expenses, as golf is an expensive game, my coach Jesse Grewal, Director CGA Golf Academy, Chandigarh, has also played an important role in my success. Apart from him, my special golf coach Bob Byman from Las Vegas United States of America, my psychological coach Gursimran Singh Sethi, my fitness coach Sagar Diwan and my athletic coach Dr Gurmeet Singh, all have played their part in improving my game.
