All of 22 years, Ankita Tiwana is one of India’s most promising female golfers on tour. She has just won her first tournament in Srinagar at the Royal Springs Golf Course and it didn’t come without drama. In a tough playoff she played some serious golf, display grit and confidence and took some calculated risks. It was a playoff to remember not just for both Tiwana and the other play Shweta Galande but for the gallery. Tiwana writes a passionate account of her winning strategy, the thoughts that occupied her and how she finally went with her gut and grip to win this tournament.
“Your choice is your half chance, so is everybody else’s” – think this statement pretty much sums up my tournament in Srinagar at the Royal Springs Golf Course. Going in to day 3, one shot behind the leader, I won’t say I wasn’t a little freaked out. To put it mildly. I had been in this position before and had given it away enough number of times to know that putting pressure on myself to ‘finish the job’ won’t help.
I didn’t know what was going to happen or how any of the other players was going to play- I don’t see a point in thinking about that at all. All I had control over was my game- not even where the ball would end up. So I was just thinking about the execution of every shot till the ball left my club face. I had spoken to my coach, Anitya Chand, the day before and all he said to me was, “I don’t care if you win or shoot the worst round of your life tomorrow- all I want to hear when you call me after your round is that you focused on your rhythm and routine before every single shot.” Words of wisdom no doubt.
I teed it up and bogeyed my first hole. I looked at the leader board change and promised myself that was the last time I would look at the leader board during my round. I was there to do the best I could irrespective of how anyone around me was doing. After the 4th hole, I had caught up with the leader. I hit the ball well but I didn’t sink too many birdie putts- only one birdie on the 12th after making double on the 10th. What I can say proudly is that I gave every single shot I hit that day my 100%. Shweta [Galande] fought hard- she sank some amazing par putts, especially on the 15th and 16th. The first time I felt my nerves was on the 16th hole- I had hit a good tee shot to the par 3 and three putted from 12 feet. Shweta hit it short of the green, miss-hit her chip slightly, but sank a long par putt. She was now one shot ahead of me going in to the 17th. I was angry for sure, I thought it was over. Again I told myself, there was nothing I could do about it now, the only thing in my control was to hit the best drive of my life on the 17th and focus on one shot at a time. For the first time, I truly believed these words that every golfer narrates to themselves in a competition. I was only competing against myself. I wanted to go off the golf course feeling content about my execution of each shot. That’s exactly what I did- hit the fairway, hit my approach to the 17th about 10 feet from the hole. Left my putt an inch short, walked off with a par. On the 18th hole, I told myself I wasn’t going to give this up so easily.
For the first time in my life, I had practiced hard, stuck to my routine, been regular with fitness. I deserved to give myself a full shot. I got on to the tee, gave it my all and hit an extremely long drive, down the fairway, on one of the toughest holes of the beautiful golf course. Shweta was behind me so hit her shot first- unfortunately she hit the water that guarded the green. My caddy told me- “madam just hit the green. 160 yards to the pin.” I took out my 6 iron, I thought to myself I know I have the ability to hit this shot within 10 feet of the pin- I have practiced it enough number of times and there is no need for me to think otherwise and ‘just hit it anywhere on the green’. I aligned myself to the pin- which meant going over the water and flying it 155 yards. I believed in myself and my ability to execute this shot- only because I had done it innumerable times on the practice range. Stuck it to 7 feet. Now my hands shivered. I had to hole this 7 footer to end it, to walk off as a winner. A side hill right to left putt. I did my pre shot routine, stood on the ball, got off of it. Something I don’t usually do. Missed my putt to get in to a play off with Shweta.
We got on to the 18th tee, our first play off hole, I was to tee off first. I must congratulate myself for being totally calm, staying in the present and focusing on one shot at a time. I said good luck to Shweta, hit my drive down the middle. Shweta also hit a good shot on the fairway. She hit her approach before me, and pumped with adrenalin, went over the green. I was 170 to the pin, almost at the same place as the last time. Hit a good shot with my 6 iron, but again adrenalin made me really pump it and my ball ended up on the top edge of the green. Shweta hit her chip to about 8ft. All I needed to do was 2 putt from 18ft, something that I probably wouldn’t even think about doubting usually. I didn’t take enough line, and hit it to 5ft. Shweta missed her par putt. All I needed was to hole this 5 footer- again something I would be able to do with my eyes closed on an ordinary day. I almost couldn’t see where my putter face was aligned. Standing on the ball I felt I was aligned too far left but thought it better to maybe die the putt in the hole and not miss it from the lower side. I made a good stroke, but I was aligned too far left. Again, for the third time that day, I gave it away.
Up until now, I was okay with the odds favouring either of us. Shweta is a good player and fully deserving of a win. My mind set was may the better player that day win- something that helped me maintain my composure during my round. But I have now learnt that a play off is a completely different ball game. Driving up to the 18th hole this time,our second play off hole, I told myself this was the last hole I was going to play. In my favour or not, this was it. On the tee, I told Shweta jokingly, come on Shweta, lets do this, either one of us! Standing on the tee, I knew I was slightly more right aligned than before, but was comfortable with my stance. I hit the right fairway bunker. Shweta drove it on the fairway. Again, I told myself, whats done is done, the only thing I have control over is my next shot and that is the only thing I will focus on. I reached my ball- it was stuck to the lip of the bunker, the pin was 185yards. I looked at my caddy and said lets go for it. I don’t want to play safe, I see no point. I took my 4 rescue, I didn’t have a proper stance, my left leg out of the bunker while my right was in the bunker. For not one second did I doubt my ability to hit this shot successfully. I did my pre shot routine, stood on the ball, opened the club face so it wouldn’t hit the lip of the bunker, aligned myself to the pin which was directly over the water. Took my backswing exactly the way I wanted to, and WHAMMED the shot as hard as I could. I hit it on the bottom edge of the green. Not until I heard the crowd go crazy did I realise what I had just managed to pull off. I got goose bumps.
My belief and faith in myself doubled. I deserved to win, I owed myself and all the people who invested their time, effort and belief in me this much. For the first time through the round I thought, no it was not okay to lose. It was not okay to give it away. Shweta pulled her approach shot to the left of the green. I must congratulate her on her brilliant short game exhibit all day that day. I learnt a lot from her. She was to chip first, a tough chip I must confess. She chipped it to about 6ft past the hole. I had a 40 footer to seal the deal. I was going to hole it. I looked at the cup- my target. Stared hard at it. Looked down at the ball, I thought to myself, no matter what kind of stroke I’m going to make, I don’t care if I miss the ball completely, I know this ball is going in the hole. I missed the cup by an inch, tapped in for a par. I had done what I had to, I had no control over anything now. I stood on the side of the green, waiting for Shweta to putt. I closed my eyes first, but decided to watch instead. She is a good player and deserves a full gallery on sinking the putt. She missed her putt.
I had won. I had finally won.
The monkey was finally off my back. I had broken the dry spell and had finally given myself what I believe I truly deserved, only because of the hard work that I and everybody working with me had put in. I know this would not be possible without a lot of support, hard work and innumerable talks I have had with the people instrumental in making this happen for me. Their belief in me is what made me believe in myself. The most important thing that I have learnt from this experience is that there truly is no substitute to hard work. If you know you have executed a shot multiple times in practice, you will execute it in competition. Everybody’s amount of work put in to be satisfactory is a personal choice, but there are no two ways about feeling you practiced enough.
