December 13, 2013: Seasoned amateur lady golfer Gauri Monga, in prime form since her fifth place finish at the recently concluded Ladies Indian Open, completed a pillar to post victory at the Usha Western India Ladies & Junior Girls Golf Championship 2013 at the Poona Golf Course. Gauri, who started the day two shots clear of the field, returned a sedate two over par 73, which was enough to see her eventually finish five shots ahead of second placed Gurbani Singh. This was Gauri’s third title in as many months on the Indian Golf Union (IGU) Amateur Ladies Golf Tour 2013.
Gurbani, who is at the top of the IGU Ladies Order of Merit, carded a day’s best of one over 72, but her horror show on day two, when she had returned a score of 10 over 81, put paid to her hopes of winning the title in the final analysis. Aditi Ashok, second on the Order of Merit list also finished joint third with a final day score of two over 73, which saw her end with a combined score of 227, seven behind Gauri and just two behind Gurbani. With the season almost at its fag end, this win by Gauri sets it up among the top three on the merit list, as they scramble for the title of the country’s best amateur lady golfer.
With no one recording a sub-par score on this course over the last two days, all Gauri had to do was keep her calm and play steady golf. This she did wonderfully and five bogeys on the day were accompanied with three birdies, which turned out to be more than enough for the Delhi based golfer. While Gurbani was left to rue her day two performance, Aditi Ashok showed a lot of character ending up where she did after lying 13th at the end of day one. Millie Saroha, who started the day in second place, needed something special today which was not to be. She ended joint third with Aditi with a final day card of seven over 78.
Aditi Ashok won the Category A section of the tournament, while Suchitra Ramesh won the Category B section with a combined score of 250 over three days and 54 holes of golf. Sifat Sagoo was the winner in the Category C section with a score of 252. The IGU Amateur Ladies Golf Tour bandwagon moves to Mumbai next and it will be interesting to watch the top lady golfers of country giving it their all as they vie for the tour winner’s title
