Glory for Indian Women Golfers

Glory for Indian Women Golfers By Champika Sayal, Secretary General of WGAI

As flags of 27 nations blew gloriously in the bright sun, a hue of delightful colours, happy golfers made the week memorable putting up a spectacular show at the Hero Women’s Indian Open. Leading the pack Gwladys Nocera of France created a historic course record with a score of 64 at 9 under par on Day one of the event. “When you play at the Delhi’s Lodhi Golf Course, it is like playing a game of CHESS- if your do not make the right moves- it can become offensive,” Gladys admitted. How right the 2014 Women’s Indian Champion was- the course known for its treacherous bushes, made our new champion get the right moves to eventually wear the crown.

The Indian line up was the best ever in the eight year history of the Championship, Kishi ( Vaishvi) Sinha who has been quietly toiling at the Symetra Tour in USA for the past year, has been player on India’s National Amateur Team. A Purdue graduate Kishi has been playing tournaments since she was nine years old. After a brilliant six under par on the first day, another course record was broken by India’s Kishi Sinha. Kishi held her nerves to be in the sole 2nd position till the very last hole. Kishi took out her driver on the 18th Tee, hoping to sustain her sole 2nd position wanting to reach the green in two. Much to the dismay of the local golfing gurus who thought that a safe shot was required at that point. A wayward tee shot landed her in big trouble, coupled with a three putt gave her a 5th position. A “Pleasure” scooty for Kishi was well earned as India’s top pro. Big lessons learnt for Kishi whose presence at the top of the leader board was commendable.

Gauri Monga making her debut as a professional player finished 8th, giving India 2 top in 10 finishes. India’s glam girl Sharmila Nicollet who was lying in the top five after day two, disappointed Indian fans with a disastrous 83 on the final round. Young players Gursimar Badwal, Shweta Galande and Saaniya Sharma kept the Indian tri colour flying – with hopes and confidence soaring for 2015. Missed at the flagship Championship was India’s sporting hero, Pawan Munjal Vice Chairman,MD&CEO of HeroMotoCorp, who was away signing the “Tiger deal”.

As the 2014 season comes to close, the year gone by has some memorable moments one of these for young amateur Amandeep Drall who made a hole in one on day of India’s flagship Championship. Of India’s 16 women professionals who were in the field, 10 made the cut off score which was at +6, this year. A great closing event with course records, hole in ones and happy memories !!