Gaurika seeks to cash in on hot run of form at Prestige Golfshire

By Rahul Banerji

Seventh leg winner Gaurika Bishnoi sets out to try and win back-to-back titles and cement her position at the top of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour’s money rankings against a 32-player field, the largest in the history of the domestic Hero WPG Tour, at the Prestige Golfshire course near Bangalore from Wednesday.

The entry list for the event surpassed the field of 29 for the seventh leg at Clover Greens last week with 27 professionals, one more than the 26 last week and also five amateurs.

The total fund will be the same as in the seventh leg at Rs.10 lakh, only the second time, after last week, to have such a purse.

Gaurika, who has won two of the last three events, has been in form will want to consolidate her game before making a bid at higher levels overseas.

Consistent show

This season, Gaurika’s worst finish in six starts has been sixth in the second leg, while the last five starts have seen her win twice, finish runner-up twice and once end third.

The dominant performance has also seen her rise to the top of the Order of Merit with Rs.6,12,800 while Neha Tripathi, who led before the start of the latest swing last week, has Rs.5,56,800.

Another feature of the seventh leg was the string of under par scores, which highlighted the quality of play. Last week the top six players shot under par totals and there were no less than 15 under par rounds, including seven in the second round and five on the final day.

There were two rounds of 66 each, one by Gursimar Badwal in the first round and by amateur Pranavi Urs on the final day. Gaurika was most consistent with rounds of 71, 70 and 67, while Amandeep Drall also had three under par scores of 71, 71 and 70.

‘Growing popularity’

“It is a testimony to the growing popularity of women’s golf in India,” said Kavita Singh, president of the WGAI.

“There are more enquiries as more and more amateurs are taking the plunge and joining the pro ranks. It is a big boost and we feel we can reach a target of 45-50 in a year or so. We are also aware of the importance of growing the game and give amateurs adequate opportunities.”

Groups and tee times for Round 1:

8:00 am: Smriti Mehra, Anisha Padukone;

8:10 am: Anousha Tripathi, Khushi Khanijau, Astha Madan;

8:20 am: Gursimar Badwal, Shriya Vivek, Afshan Fatima;

8:30 am: Ridhima Dilawari, Tvesa Malik, Ivana Shah (A);

8:40 am: Pranavi Urs (A), Ananya Datar, Sneha Sharan (A);

8:50 am: Komal Chaudhary, Millie Saroha, Neha Tripathi;

9:00 am: Ishvari Prasanna, Suchitra Ramesh, Asmitha Sathish (A);

9:10 am: Gauri Karhade, Mehar Atwal, Hita Prakash;

9:20 am: Siddhi Kapoor, Tanirika Singh, Shreya Pal (A);

9:30 am: Jyotsana Singh, Ayesha Kapur, Gaurika Bishnoi;

9:40 am: Sonam Chugh, Amandeep Drall, Oviya Reddi;

Also read: Gaurika finishes in style to win 7th leg of Hero WPG Tour