Indian golf sensation Aditi Ashok may prove to be a trailblazer for India as she returns to Vic Oates Open and will be one of the strongest challengers.
Aditi has not only been hitting the headlines but her showing has also encouraged others to raise their levels. So much so, three other Indian girls have made the LET Tour card.
Two of them Vani Kapoor and Amandeep Drall also feature in the start list this week. Last week at Gold Coast, Vani made the cut, while Drall missed out.
In what turned out to be an outstanding rookie season, the 18-year-old Bengaluru girl, won back-to-back wins at the Hero Women’s Indian Open and Qatar Ladies Open.
This week she enters the Vic Oates Open inside Top-100 of the world. This year Aditi should also get into some Majors and she has a conditional card on LPGA, too. So, she should get to play a lot on various Tours.
“I should be able to play some of the (women’s) majors this year so that should be interesting and I have a conditional card on the LPGA Tour so I’m going to try and playas much as I can,” Aditi said.
“I don’t know where I‘ll be for most of the year so we’ll see how it goes.”
Coming off a Tied-sixth place finish in her season-opening RACV Gold Coast Challenge, Aditi will once again have her father, Ashok at the bag. He was on it, when she won the second of her two titles in Qatar last year.
“Last year the wind was a big factor for me. Especially some of the headwind holes, I really didn’t score well on them. So this time, I’ve played two practice rounds on the Beach course and I’m going to play one on the Creek tomorrow and hopefully I’ll be able to manage the wind better,” Aditi said, speaking to the LET website.
“I’m hitting it a bit longer than I did last year so that should help.”
Apart from Aditi, Beth Allen, who topped the LET Order of Merit, is also in the field besides a whole lot of other 2016 tournament winners on LET. The field also has Dame Laura Davies, a multiple Major winner.
(With inputs from PTI)
