East India Amateur golf meet champion Himmat Rai with the trophy at the RCGC on Monday. Picture by Gautam Bose

Calcutta: Himmat Rai celebrated Christmas in style, claiming the Goodricke East India Amateur Golf Championship 2006 title with a majestic win over local lad Surya Prakash here on Monday. Rai won 5&4.

Anirbal Lahiri won the ‘Strokeplay’ crown (played on the first two days of the tournament) with a tally of 141, while L. Selvadurai finished second at 144.

The tournament, played at the par-72 Royal Calcutta Golf Club, brought down the curtain on the eighth leg of the 2006-07 Royal Challenge Indian Golf Tour.

Meanwhile, the Invitational Cup concluded at the same venue on Sunday.

In the 100-strong field that competed, Tashi Kidwai won the ‘20 & Above’ category title with a score of 74.2 Nett.

The ‘30 & Above’ crown went to Harmeet Sahney who scored 69 Nett, while J Mukherjee finished runner-up at 71.2 Nett.

In the ‘50 & Above’ category, N.N. Sramjee won at a score of 71.4 Nett while M. Dalvi finished second at 72 Nett. The Junior title went to Arya Gupta at 73 Nett while Tara Halwasia ran away with the Ladies title at 74.2 Nett.

The Match-play final began with Rai winning the opening hole with a par. He lost the advantage on the very next hole, losing it with a double bogey but recovered to win the third hole despite a bogey.

Rai won the next four holes with a birdie and three pars to sit pretty at 5-up on the eighth tee-box. Surya Prakash won the eighth with a par but Rai pulled back winning the ninth with a par. After six halved holes, Rai carded three straight birdies to win the 16 th, 17th and 18th and move to 8-up at the half-way stage.