Ashok in the arm for India as teen star hits the Oates Vic Open
IN these times of wraparound schedules on the global golfing circuits, with new seasons starting in the same year as the old season, it’s almost a rarity when a new season actually begins in the new year. And if you’re still following this, then congratulations, you’ve won a Herald calendar to keep you up to speed with these Gregorian guddlings.
This week, the 2017 Ladies European Tour swings into action with the Oates Vic Open in Australia and for Indian trailblazer, Aditi Ashok, it will hopefully be a case of onwards and upwards.
For new recruits finding their feet in the professional game, the transition can be fraught with perils and pitfalls. For this 18-year-old, though, it’s not been, ahem, Ashok to the system.
Keen followers of the domestic amateur game may remember her winning the St Rule Trophy over the Old Course in 2015 before going on to become the first Indian to win the Ladies British Open Amateur Championship that same year.
In a blossoming career of firsts, Ashok hasn’t stopped there. She was the first Indian – and the youngest player – to win the Ladies European Tour’s qualifying school before going on to become the first female tour winner from this vast country when she captured both her national Open and the Qatar Ladies Open. A triumphant 2016 also saw her compete in the Olympics, win the European Tour’s rookie of the year prize and earn an LPGA Tour card. Indeed, she will be only the second Indian woman, after the pioneering Simi Mehra 20 years ago, to play on the LPGA circuit.
India may boast the oldest golf club outside of the UK – the Royal Calcutta club was formed in 1829 – but this Royal & Ancient game is still in its relative infancy. Cost and access remain highly prohibitive factors, but Ashok is the bright young face of inspiration. “There are a lot of 15-year-olds already who want to become the next Aditi,” suggested Mehra.
Golf in India is hardly your game for the common man or woman. Then again, one of India’s par-busting pathfinders provided a bit of a rags-to-riches tale. Ali Sher was a caddie at Delhi Golf Club before rising up through the ranks and becoming the first native son to win the Indian Open with his victory in 1991. Five years later, in the Dunhill Cup at St Andrews, Sher and his Indian team-mates, Jeev Milka Singh and Gaurav Ghei, claimed a sizeable scalp when they beat a Scotland side featuring Colin Montgomerie. Rumours that a commemorative statue of the conquest, depicting a furious Monty storming off the Old Course, was to be commissioned and placed on a plinth behind the Taj Mahal proved to be unfounded.
While male players like the aforementioned Singh, Arjun Atwal and Anirban Lahiri have all made a mark on the global stage, Ashok is ploughing something of a lone furrow on the female front.
“Golf is definitely growing in India, but for the number of people we have, we still don’t have enough players, especially women players,” said Ashok, who has broken into the world’s top 100 for the first time.
In 1998, the celebrated Se Ri Pak effectively st ar ted the Korean dominance of women’s golf with her seminal victory in the US Open. Today, 24 of the current world top 50 are Korean. The hope is that Ashok can have a similar impact in India. It’s quite a burden of expectation but given the mighty strides she has made already, Ashok is doing a fine job as standard bearer.