New Delhi, Feb 24(.) All of 16, Kartik Singh is already a Target Olympics Podium Scheme(TOPS) athlete, and the youngest golfer to compete at the ’72 The League’ which kicked off on Tuesday at the Classic Golf & Country Club in Gurugram.

The Delhi boy started Golf at 6 years of age, being introduced to the sport by his father, a retired Indian Navy officer who is a keen golfer

“I started when I was six years old, my father has always been very passionate about the game, and he use to take me with him to the Golf course and that is how I started” Singh told . in an exclusive interview.

The ’72 The League’ is India’s first franchise based professional Golf league. The six city-based teams – Capital Lancers (Delhi), Charminar Champions (Hyderabad), Kolkata Classics, Mumbai Aces, Rajasthan Regals and UP Prometheans are competing in the league.

Kartik, who turned professional in 2025 was bought by Mumbai Aces for Rs 14. 40 lakhs at the player auction held in Delhi on February 16. Kartik, whose base price was Rs 3 lakhs, was eventually sold for almost 5 times that amount as Charminar Champions and Capital Lancers also showed keen interest in buying him.

The class XII student is a bit of a veteran, already having played several tournaments in both the amateur and professional circuit

“I have played a lot of tournaments nationally as well as internationally, I have competed in prestigious professional events like the Indian Open and as also Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC), Bonallack Trophy, and Junior Invitational at Sage Valley Golf Club(South Carolina) twice.”

He spoke on the strategy that should be adopted at ’72 the league. “The strategy for the match play format will be opponent centric as opposed to a Golf course centric approach of the stoke play format,” Singh said.

The young golfer explained that in the stroke play format “one is competing against several other golfers, however in the match play format, it will be one on one, hence player centric approach is adopted.”

He expressed his admiration for Tiger Woods “like most others, I too idolise Tiger Woods, he is the most dominant golfer in history and one of the most dominant athletes across all sports I wish to have a career like him.”

Kartik mainly trains at at the Army Golf club (New Delhi) besides attending coaching in DLF, Gurugram.

“I don’t have any favorite format, most of the tournaments we play have stroke play format, so I think it will be interesting playing the match play format in a team setting,” he said, adding, “I am familiar with the format as I have experience of playing in the Junior Presidents Cup and also the Bonallack Trophy- both of which had the same format, with singles, Foursome and four ball.”

He picked Shubhankar Sharma, Anirban Lahiri and . Chaurasia as some of the Indian golfers he admires

“Shubhankar Sharma, won on the DP World Tour, he is also from an Army background … I have met him and he is one of my inspirations, also Anirban Lahiri, he played on the PGA tour and all the major championships and won the Indian open.”

He said that securing an Olympic medal for the country and winning any of the major tours are his major targets.

“My target is winning an Olympic medal and winning the green jacket”

Kartik spoke about his training “I try to practice every day, ideally in a session I try to ensure that I play nine holes. As far as fitness is concerned, I train one to one and a half hours at least 5 days a week.”

He spoke about the sacrifices made by his parents, particularly his mother to support his golfing pursuits

“My mother was also in the Navy but had retired, she restarted work just to support my golfing pursuits … this allowed me to play all the junior tournaments and get coaching as well”

He spoke about the rigors of being a professional golfer, especially the jam packed schedule he faces. “I have been playing tournaments since the last four weeks- first in Ahmadabad, then Chhattisgarh, then Malaysia, Kolkata after that, now two weeks will be the league, then again Ahmedabad. There is very little off season, always playing tournaments and practicing.”

Kartik’s father Captain Dhananjay Kumar Singh(Capt.) said that his son is mentally very strong and that is what gave him confidence to support his sporting pursuits

“From a very young age he would hit the ball more accurately than many professionals from similar distances and more importantly he is mentally very strong… He almost always bounces back after a bad hole, bad shot. He may have a bad day but next day he will bounce back. Golf teaches him to just do his best.”

Singh expressed happiness that Kartik has turned professional “Only professional golfers can compete in the Olympics, so he turned pro at the right time as his main aim is to win a medal in the Olympics.”

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