Dubai: A seven-year-old child has stunned the local golfing fraternity by achieving a 28 handicap at the Nad Al Sheba Club.
Arkesh Bhatia played three front and three back nines off the men's tees to go around the challenging course in less than 102 shots.
Tom Rouke, Golf operations manager at Nad Al Sheba, praised the little boy who stands around 105cm tall.
He said: "It's difficult to first get your handicap because one bad hole can ruin your round, but Arkesh went round without any high scores and was very consistent throughout. For a seven-year-old that was very, very good.
"Arkesh has got a very natural and smooth swing. He's big for his age and he hits it quite a long way."
The boy was introduced to the game early by his mother and father, Madhu and Rakesh who are huge golf fans.
Madhu Bhatia explained: "We would come down here when Arkesh was three years old to play and he had this little plastic golf set which he used to use to hit balls with.
"We've not coached him much, mostly he's learned off his father. The pros said to leave him be, so that he's as natural as possible."
In a sign of his progress Arkesh was invited to play in a tournament at the Wadi course for players aged between 12 and 21 years, but his parents turned down the opportunity so as not to put pressure on him.
