Elijah proves his mettle by bagging two golf titles

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CHUBBY looking junior golfer Elijah Jetro Chitty has been winning the hearts of his peers and adults with his sweet and charming personality on the golf course.

Although his father Ravi Chitty was a late learner in picking up the game, the 10-year-old SRK Damansara Utama pupil had the privilege of getting a good head start at the age of four.

Returning to competition: Elijah will be featuring in boys’ Under-12 category of third leg Premier-Elite competition at his home course on Sunday.

“When I started taking up golf in 1999, my eldest son (Ethan Jeremiah Chitty) joined me on the course in 2001. And Elijah also followed us for our golf outings in 2003,” said Ravi.

The emerging talent featuring under the Rahman Putra Golf Club banner has been competing in the SportExcel series since 2005.

Two years ago, Elijah showed his potential when he was the champion on two occasions by taking the boys’ Under-Eight title of SportExcel Junior Open and the SportExcel Premier-Elite third leg at the Darul Aman Golf Club and Kelab Golf Perkhimatan Awam respectively.

“The two victories were my best accomplishments thus far,” Elijah said.

This season, he was also finding it tough to upstage the more established Galven Kendall Green of Monterez Golf and Country Club in the boys’ Under-10 contest.

Considering that the closest encounter against Galven was a two-stroke defeat at the Royal Johor Golf Club back in 2007, Elijah admitted that he has a lot of catching up to do in his bid to strive for improvement.

“Although I took the lead on the opening day at this year’s junior open first leg, Galven came back strongly to pull off a comfortable win on the final and deciding day.

“I also settled for the second spot behind him at the sixth leg at the Serendah Golf Links,” said Elijah, adding that he fancies the travelling to compete in competitions regularly.

However, he was forced to take a three-month break to recover from a wrist injury and would be making a return to competition at the third leg Premier-Elite competition at his home course on Sunday.

“It will be great to finish as the top five in the boys’ Under-12 competition and earn a place in the national match play. But, it is going to be an uphill task because the seniors in the age-group are stronger and superior in gaining the distance on the greens,” he said.

Besides tackling the 18-hole for six times a month on average, Elijah was also brushing up on his long game under the tutelage of Ng Seng Giap up to two times a week at the driving range in Tropicana.

“My father was my caddy when I was younger. It is a different kind of pressure when my father is scrutinising my game closely. Now, I prefer to go out on my own reading the lines and selecting the right clubs.

“But, he still shares his views on the approaches in course management,” said Elijah.

FACT FILE

Name: Elijah Jethro Chitty

Date of Birth: 28 May 1999

Ht: 1.35m Wt: 42kg

School: SRK Damansara Utama (Year Four)

Hobbies: Aviation, watching documentaries, football

Ambition: Pilot

Favourite Sports Personality: Camilo Villegas - “Spiderman” (Columbia)

Coach: Ng Seng Giap, G.L. Tan

Achievements:

2007

- SportExcel Junior Open (Darul Aman Golf Club) boys’ Under-Eight champion

- SportExcel Premier-Elite third leg (Kelab Golf Perkhimatan Awam) boys’ Under-Eight champion

2009

- SportExcel Junior Open first leg (Royal Sri Menanti Club) boys’ Under-10 runner-up

- SportExcel Junior Open third leg (Royal Johor Golf Club) boys’ Under-10 third

- SportExcel Junior Open sixth leg (Serendah Golf Links) boys’ Under-10 runner-up