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Triumph on home turf
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Two women players from the Karnataka Golf Association made a mark at the recent national event in the city
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Sharmila Nicolette, winner of the Silver Division category in the A.V.Thomas Ladies Open Amateur Golf Tournament. —Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.
THE WEEK gone by (February 1 to 8) was a memorable one for city golfers. The Karnataka Golf Association course, right now in top condition, had a packed schedule and leading women amateurs from all over the country arrived in the Garden City to take part in the 87th edition of the All India Amateur Championship. This tournament is played at different centres by rotation, and this is only the second time that Bangalore was hosting the finals. This year's final was sponsored by Navision and conducted by Tiger Sports Marketing, known for its strong presence in professional and corporate golf. A good turnout of spectators was there on all the six days of the tournament.
Women golfers in the South are a handful, while up North, the courses are teeming with them. Chandigarh, Noida, Delhi, and Kolkota produce a number of winners in the women's section, but two players from Karnataka Golf Association distinguished themselves during the tournament. Priya Khanna, pretty much a casual golfer, went on to win the bronze division of the tournament after a tremendous tussle on the final day, and 12-year-old Sharmila Nicloette, a serious player who has been making waves in tournaments at Bangalore and away, achieved a rare distinction, which every golfer aspires to achieve sometime in his/her career. Sharmila sank a hole-in-one playing in the Stableford event during the all-India tournament.
The all-India tournament is played over six days, and on the first two days, the women compete in the qualifying tournament, the winner of which gets the Biloo Sethi Cup. The players are classified according to their handicaps with the gold division being for players with a handicap of 0-12, the silver for players with a handicap of 13-24, and the bronze for players with handicaps of 25-36. After the qualifying, only five women from Karnataka had progressed into the matchplay or knockout rounds: Renuka Philip, Rani Sonti, Pinky Naresh Kumar, Revathy Solomon, and Priya Khanna.
Priya Khanna, winner of the Bronze Section in th All India Ladies Amateur Golf Championship held at the KGA Golf Course. —Photo: K. Murali Kumar
Rani Sonti started off with an impressive win over fourth ranked Pragya Misra in the gold division, but lost out to the eventual winner, Vandana Aggarwal, after a tough fight in the second round.
Priya, who is usually busy managing her own property development concern and plays only when she is not tied down with work, had a bye in the first round and proved too good for seventh ranked Aruna Sharma. The title deciding round in the bronze division was a great contest between top seeded Preeti Mehta and second ranked Priya Khanna. In the end, it was the host club's Priya Khanna who showed nerves of steel and won the match on the 18th hole.
Young Sharmila Nicolette already has a string of titles to her credit. A wispy, frail looking girl, Sharmila is reportedly a big driver on the course and she takes her game very seriously. Sharmila had won the silver division of the Southern India Ladies Amateur Golf when it was held at the KGA and has also fared well in Chennai and other centres.
The Bishop Cottons Girls School student was the centre of much adulation when she achieved a hole-in-one on the par three, fourth hole on February 4. Sharmila had a perfect tee shot and the ball traversed a good 155 yards in perfect flight to land and roll into the hole amidst much cheering from the caddies and spectators.
Usually a golfer receives a gift hamper of a number of bottles of Chivas Regal or some such spirits from the club, but in Sharmila's case, the club will have to decide on the award.
The hole in one is such a coveted achievement that some golfers have won gifts as expensive as cars. Others have taken home motorbikes and other such goodies.
Car manufacturers usually take out a high premium insurance, which a number of companies are more than willing to underwrite. Let's hope Sharmila gets due recognition for possibly being the youngest girl golfer in the country to achieve the feat.
D. RAVI SHANKAR
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