Aditi Ashok finishes T21 in Lalla Meryem Cup

Anand Datla

May 08, 2016: Aditi Ashok capped a solid week of golf with a fighting two over 74 to finish T21 at the Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Rabat, Morocco. It was further evidence that the young Indian girl is set for the big league in women’s golf. Aditi survived a difficult day on the course, battling past five bogeys on the front nine and a bruising double on the final hole to register a respectable finish in the Lalla Meryem Cup on the Ladies European Tour. Nuria Iturrios produced a sensational final round 65 to sail past Florentyna Parker to a commanding six shot victory.

Aditi made bogeys at the first and third holes, but recovered both times with birdies on the next hole. A double bogey at the par-4 fifth hole and a bogey at the 7th pushed Aditi down to 3-over for the round. Even though she added another birdie at the eighth, it took her 38 shots to navigate the front nine, not the kind of start when she was aspiring to force her way inside the top 20.

The second nine was far more fluent. The Indian, ranked 48th on the Order of Merit after her result in Morocco, produced four birdies in five holes from the 11th hole to raise hopes of a rousing finish. But a bogey at the 17th and a double at the 18th set her back at the end.

That double bogey at the 353 yard 18th hole dropped Aditi to 5-over for the week with an overall score of 293. It was a solid week nonetheless and Aditi banked a cheque for € 6,525 for her share of the prize money.

The performance of the day was from Spaniard Iturrios. She made eight birdies and a lone bogey in a brilliant finish that left her head and shoulders above the shocked field. Iturrios raced to victory with five birdies off her final nine holes for a stellar 31 to finish the tournament on a high.

Back to Aditi, she made 13 birdies, 12 bogeys and 3 doubles in her scores of 72-74-73-74. It was a creditable performance by the young Indian, in her second outing on the Ladies European Tour.