Club class: Aditi Ashok is claiming her place in international golf

Aditi Ashok focused on golf after she realised, at 11, that she would not get admission into Hogwarts

In her childhood, Aditi Ashok lived in two worlds. The first was the world of driveways and greens where she could spend hours at a stretch all by herself, flitting between the Karnataka Golf Association and the Bangalore Golf Club, her home turf.

In the second, she would attend the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the universe created by J K Rowling, in the company of Harry Potter and friends.

Even when she claimed her maiden national win at the age of nine, Ashok believed her acceptance letter from Hogwarts would come. “I waited for the letter till I was 11. And it was only when the letter never came that reality hit me. It was very difficult for me to believe that Hogwarts was all fiction,” she says.
 

The golf course has been the only place Ashok has ever wanted to be since then.

It was during this time that French performance training specialist and fitness coach Nicolas Cabaret first met her, six years ago. He distinctly remembers her as an 11-year-old who appeared mature beyond her years.

“She already knew what she wanted,” recalls Cabaret who has in the past worked with champions like Andy Murray, Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski. He saw “great potential” in her, and he was right.

At the Rio Olympics, the 18-year-old, who had turned professional just six months before the event, was the youngest player on the course. And this Sunday, Ashok carded an even par 72 on the final day of the Hero Women’s Indian Open at Gurugram by beating tough competitors, American Brittany Lincicome and Spain’s Belen Mozo. In doing so, Ashok became the first Indian player to win on the Ladies European Tour.

It isn’t the image of the cheering crowds at Gurugram or at the Olympics that the teen golfer cherishes, but it’s the memory of her teary-eyed father, Ashok G, that remains the fondest for her. “I may be the one to have qualified for the Olympics, but my father got to be a part of the biggest sporting experience in the world as he was caddying for me. He said, ‘Thank you’,” recalls the daughter, humbled by the experience.

Theirs is a family enterprise.

“If you have to start anything as a child, it’s up to the parents to set the ball rolling. My mom has now become my manager and she’s helped me plan my career from scratch and my father caddies for me,” says Ashok.

For their part, Ashok’s parents choose to stay out of the limelight and let their ward’s sport do all the talking. As her manager, Ashok’s mother, Maheshwari, carefully screens all interview requests that come for their teen daughter. Fiercely protective of their personal lives, they don’t let out family photographs either, preferring the focus remains on their daughter’s current games. 

Ashok’s growth has seen a “nice upward trend”, especially in the last four years that they’ve worked together, feels Steven Giuliano, her Malaysia-based golf coach. Next week, as Ashok travels to Qatar for the next leg of the Ladies European Tour, those words have never rung stronger.

Making use of detailed statistics, Giuliano closely monitors her training as well as tournaments. Before every big game, not only the coach and the player but also Ashok’s father have a chat about the golf course’s conditions and get a low-down on the shots she’s struggled with before.

“I’m very aware of the ecosystem within which she plays golf. As her coach, it’s my role to stretch those boundaries and attempt to shift certain patterns or tendencies that might be holding her back,” he says.

The traits that define Ashok’s game are consistency and the ability to spring back up. 

While the DLF course, where the Indian Open was held, is known to be a scenic beauty, the back nine at the Gary Player-designed course is considered a tough challenge even for the most seasoned golfer. After a double bogey that hurt the player on Saturday, Ashok fired five birdies in her back nine to finish with a total score of 141. 

Ashok’s always felt that though her driving has been accurate, she needs to improve upon the distance.

Around this time last year, when she was playing as an amateur, it was her putting that let her down on the final day of the Women’s Indian Open golf tournament. But the teen golfer made up for the loss by getting it right with a four-foot putt on Sunday’s final hole.

Ashok, whom many describe as a “quiet girl”, took an instant liking to golf when she was only five-and-a-half years old. Out for breakfast in a restaurant overlooking the Karnataka Golf Course, her family decided to spend some time hitting balls. But even after three long hours, Ashok wanted to keep hitting.

She says she was drawn to golf because she could play all by herself. “Besides, every day is different with golf, every condition is different and you never play the same shot twice. That has kept me going back to the course,” adds Ashok.

In city-based The Frank Antony Public School, where the teen golfer spent her school years, Ashok’s achievements were constantly documented via news clippings and pinned on the notice board. Ever since Kevin D Pope, now the principal at the school, joined the management in 2009, news clippings of Ashok’s success have been neatly filed away to show to parents and visitors.

Though Ashok passed out earlier this year, the documentation continues because it makes the younger students proud.

Ashok has achieved somewhat of a celebrity status in her school. At the end of every year, Pope religiously details Ashok’s milestones to an audience of over 1,000 parents and children.

“She was an above-average student and was able to cope with added pressure. She has had a spark in her and everyone has always believed that her enthusiasm and determination will pay off,” he says.

“I’ve known Ashok and her parents from when she was in Class VI. This kind of success wouldn’t have been possible without the support of her parents. Her example has now inspired a lot of parents who have begun encouraging their children to pursue extra-curricular activities,” adds Pope.

In the lobby outside Pope’s office, a large part of two walls is adorned with trophies in all shapes and sizes from team events the school has participated in. And though the school has a number of notable alumni like billiards and snooker player Pankaj Advani, actor and former Miss Universe Lara Dutta, apart from Ashok, the only picture of a former student that hangs in the lobby is that of Sandeep Unnikrishnan who was killed in action during the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai.

The traits of a teenager are all there in Ashok. Give her a Jane Austen or an Agatha Christie and she is likely to lose herself for hours together. “It’s tough to keep up with the kind of language in classics, but I find it fascinating to see how language has evolved over time. Science and Math have a definite end to them, but with English I feel that there’s no end to what a person can compose,” says the golfer who is looking forward to take up English, psychology and journalism in Bengaluru’s Jain College.

“Since as a golfer you also have to interact with the media, I thought studying journalism could come in handy,” she adds.

Among the many senior (and retired) golfers Ashok admires is Annika Sorenstam who even gave her tips during a tournament.

Many, including her father, say that the aggressiveness the otherwise soft-spoken Ashok brings to the game is because till she was almost 12, she would compete with boys on the golf course.

Aditi Ashok is the first Indian to have won on the Ladies European Tour, clinching the Indian Open that was recently held in Gurugram

People also believe that Ashok’s fearlessness in the game comes because of her age, but those closest to her clarify that age has nothing to do with who Ashok is. “I talk to her like I talk to my other elite athletes who are 30. We don’t need to talk too long: our conversations are always straight to the point. She is only 18 but has a good understanding of how to improve her game,” says Cabaret, her fitness coach.

As a world-class athlete, Ashok has to constantly travel, which can be taxing. “I understand the rhythm well: there’s the long flight, jet lag, hotel and then the golf course. My work is to help her to better deal with her hectic schedule to be both physically and mentally ready to compete in a manner abstracted from the fatigue,” says Cabaret.

Behind the scrutinising gaze of international opponents and their coaches, sports commentators and cameras, Ashok loves to hula hoop and roller skate around her house. And much like during the Rio Olympics, the past one week has seen Ashok’s Facebook and Twitter timelines explode with congratulatory messages flowing in from across the world.

Guarding her privacy, Ashok’s social media accounts, unlike those of most young adults, aren’t too happening: there’s nothing on the films she watches or the music she likes, or the friends she hung out with. 

In line with the family’s focus on her sport, all the news on her feed is strictly-golf only. And every time a player sends a congratulatory note to Ashok, she graciously thanks them and shares how excited she is to be going forward. “See you soon,” she tweets back with happy-faced emojis.    

And in the face of intense scrutiny, Ashok remains unperturbed by all the attention being showered on her. “I think all this attention is very good for sports in our country, especially for women’s sports,” she says.

With the likes of Jeev Milkha Singh, Jyoti Singh Randhawa and Arjun Atwal, India has never lacked golfing talent. “Anirban Lahiri and Shiv Chawrasia have also been doing very well, but women’s golf is still in its growing stage,” she says. 

But as more and more young girls take up the sport, Ashok feels the scene is set to change.