Profile: Gurbani Singh’s growing golf

Special Report by Rajlakshmi Retesh

December 23, 2013: Gurbani Singh stands tall at the peak of her golfing career in the national circuit, as she leads the Indian Golf Union’s National Squad for Ladies/Junior Girls merit list and also the Ladies merit list. Here on, she proceeds to her next step in her golfing career.

“Possibly my last tournament on the Indian circuit,” Gurbani tweeted this as she has been confirmed to join the golf program at the Duke University. She will study there and keep the Indian flag high up.

“Gurbani is one of those people you know will be a positive force on our team,” commented Dan Brooks, head coach of Duke University’s Women golf.

“She has a very simple, beautiful golf swing and has the patience and calm demeanor that many great players have. I’m excited to bring that sort of a personality onto our team. She’s a brilliant student, so she’s going to handle Duke very well. I’m very much looking forward to having her on the team,” Duke University women’s golf head coach Dan Brooks said.

A prodigy of Romit Bose’s Golf Academy in New Delhi, Gurbani has won 16 amateur titles and numerous junior championships in India. She is the only Indian woman ranked in the top 100 of the World Amateur Golf rankings last week. Gurbani has represented India in 27 international events from 2008 to 2013.

“Gurbani came to me as a six-year-old kid and ever since she has maintained her disciplined practice. Her determination and dedication has her here. She is going to attend one of the best golf training program in the world and I’m sure she will catch up to world standards some day,” says Romit Bose, her mentor and coach for 12 years.

Gurbani started playing competitive golf at a young age of 11. She is part of the Indian National Team, she is also the current Indian Ladies National Champion and has won four tournaments in 2013. She claimed the Chandigarh Ladies Open Amateur, the Faldo Asia Qualifier, Karnataka Ladies Open Golf Championship and the Army Ladies Open Amateur Golf Championship. Singh was the team captain at the 2012 World Team Amateur Championship in Turkey. She received the Rolex Award of Excellence for three straight years from 2009-11. Singh set the record for lowest score by an Indian Ladies Amateur with a round of 64 at the Faldo Series Qualifier in 2012.

Gurbani has a distinction of being among a few Indian girls who have won an international golf tournament (the Evian Junior Masters Cup in Evian, France, in July 2010). In the overall category where the performances of both boys and girls were considered, she tied at the second spot with a boy from Austria.

A big fan of Sussane Patterson and Inbee Park, Gurbani nurtures a dream to make it big in women’s golfing circuit. This purple princess, she is called for her fetish for purple colour Tee she often likes to dress in.

Accompanying Gurbani for the fall of 2014, the Blue Devils will feature a roster of seven for the 2014-15 campaign that will include returning letter winners Irene Jung, Celine Boutier, Yi Xiao, Yu Liu, Sandy Choi and Esther Lee. Brooks’ roster will feature student-athletes from all over the World including, France, Canada, India, two from China and two from California.