 "A glorious century")
As 18-year-old Aditi Ashok makes rapid strides in the world of golf, the Usha All India Ladies’ Amateur Golf Championship held its centenary edition at the picturesque Delhi Golf Club last week. The verdant greens, dotted with ancient tombs, saw a spate of women golfers tee off, drive and putt.
Times were different in the beginning when the golf course was not really the kind of golf course we are used to now but a series of putting greens , with the nearby lawns hosting croquet events.
In the early years, the participants were largely British ladies. It was only in 1970, that an Indian, Anjani Desai, went on to win this tournament for the first time.
Between 1970 and the present, Indians have dominated this tournament, though not all graduated to the tougher professional arena, till Simi Mehra did so in 1994. Times were different then, the level of fitness, training and competition are much better today than they were then, and there are some good training programmes for aspiring golfers. Aditi Ashok emerged from one such training programme.
There is no selection criterion for the Usha All India Ladies Amateur Golf Championships — all players need to have a handicap of 12 and below.
The tournament took place across seven days, which started with a 36-hole stroke play qualifier consisting of 68 participants from 11 countries including India, with the best 32 graduating to the All India Match Play event.
Usha, which makes home appliances and was once a part of the undivided Shriram family, stepped in as the sponsor some 30 years back. “When Usha first associated itself with this tournament, there were just 25-30 female golfers; now there are so many more,” says Siddharth Shriram, promoter of Usha International and the newly-elected president of the Delhi Golf Club.
The tournament has been a cradle for the development of Indian golfers like Ashok, Simi Mehra, Sharmila Nicollet and Irina Singh (nee Brar) who have gone on to turn professional after finding success at this tournament.
Having seen the game grow over the years, Shriram has high hopes for women’s golf in the years to come, and feels it is on the cusp of a revolution. “After Aditi Ashok, six other women golfers have turned professional. Over the next 10 years, there will be 50. The sport is at an inflection point in the country,” says he.
“It is arguably the most prestigious event on the ladies amateur golf calendar in India. The opportunity that the tournament offered to compete with champions from other Asian countries, helped me gain confidence in my game. Winning in Asia came easy after that,” says Singh, a four-time champion and former top-ranked pro golfer in the country.
The icing on the cake for this tournament’s centenary edition would have been an Indian winner. Sadly, 16-year-old Diksha Dagar fell just short, losing to her more experienced 21-year-old Malaysian opponent, Nur Durriyah Damian. Had she won, it would have maintained India’s dominance at the event since 2000.
A sari-clad Prakash Malik, mother of the former ladies’ captain of the Delhi Golf Club, Harji Malik, plays as her husband HS Malik watches on
Times were different in the beginning when the golf course was not really the kind of golf course we are used to now but a series of putting greens , with the nearby lawns hosting croquet events.
In the early years, the participants were largely British ladies. It was only in 1970, that an Indian, Anjani Desai, went on to win this tournament for the first time.
Between 1970 and the present, Indians have dominated this tournament, though not all graduated to the tougher professional arena, till Simi Mehra did so in 1994. Times were different then, the level of fitness, training and competition are much better today than they were then, and there are some good training programmes for aspiring golfers. Aditi Ashok emerged from one such training programme.
There is no selection criterion for the Usha All India Ladies Amateur Golf Championships — all players need to have a handicap of 12 and below.
The tournament took place across seven days, which started with a 36-hole stroke play qualifier consisting of 68 participants from 11 countries including India, with the best 32 graduating to the All India Match Play event.
Usha, which makes home appliances and was once a part of the undivided Shriram family, stepped in as the sponsor some 30 years back. “When Usha first associated itself with this tournament, there were just 25-30 female golfers; now there are so many more,” says Siddharth Shriram, promoter of Usha International and the newly-elected president of the Delhi Golf Club.
Nonita Lal Qureshi, the most successful Indian golfer with six titles at the USHA All India Ladies Amateur Golf Championships, receiving a trophy from actor Sharmila Tagore
The tournament has been a cradle for the development of Indian golfers like Ashok, Simi Mehra, Sharmila Nicollet and Irina Singh (nee Brar) who have gone on to turn professional after finding success at this tournament.
Having seen the game grow over the years, Shriram has high hopes for women’s golf in the years to come, and feels it is on the cusp of a revolution. “After Aditi Ashok, six other women golfers have turned professional. Over the next 10 years, there will be 50. The sport is at an inflection point in the country,” says he.
“It is arguably the most prestigious event on the ladies amateur golf calendar in India. The opportunity that the tournament offered to compete with champions from other Asian countries, helped me gain confidence in my game. Winning in Asia came easy after that,” says Singh, a four-time champion and former top-ranked pro golfer in the country.
The icing on the cake for this tournament’s centenary edition would have been an Indian winner. Sadly, 16-year-old Diksha Dagar fell just short, losing to her more experienced 21-year-old Malaysian opponent, Nur Durriyah Damian. Had she won, it would have maintained India’s dominance at the event since 2000.