Nishtha Madan through to LPGA Qualifying School second stage

By Rahul Banerji

Having made the most of her time on the Cactus Tour, Nishtha Madan moved into round two of the LPGA-Symetra Tour Qualifying School tournament in California’s Rancho Mirage on Sunday.

Nishtha (71-68-72-73, 284) finished the four-round first stage qualifier tied 27^th on the par-72 course with American amateur Gina Tan leading the list of 95 players going through to the second stage.

This will be played at the Plantation Golf and Country Club in Florida from October 21 to 24. The top 30 from Florida go through to a new event at the end of the year to determine their playing status on the LPGA and Symetra tours.

Three other Indians in the field – Sharmila Nicollet, Saaniya Sharma and Nikita Arjun – did not make the grade.

Nishtha, who moved to the US a couple of years ago has achieved solid results with coach Noah Montgomery who also mentors top amateur Anika Varma.

Having completed her university studies from Sacramento last year, Nishtha had a successful run on the Cactus Tour in north-western US with five titles.

The Cactus Tour also saw the likes of Sophia Popov, Mina Harigae and Carlotta Ciganda hone their game during the LPGA Tour’s Covid break.

Popov and Ciganda have incidentally just been named to Europe’s Solheim Cup team against the US, the event starting at the Inverness Club in Toledo from August 31 to September 6.

Five in fray

On the Ladies European Tour meanwhile, Aditi Ashok and four others will play the Skafto Open in Fiskebackskil, Sweden, later this week.

With the LPGA Tour taking a break ahead of the Solheim Cup, Aditi will play a few events in Europe before returning to the United States.

In Sweden, she will be joined at the 5,229-yard, par 69 Skafto Golf Club by Vani Kapoor, Amandeep Drall, Ashta Madan and Ridhima Dilawari.

Amandeep and Vani have been playing qualifying events in Europe, most recently the PGA Championship by Trelleborgs Kommun in Sweden where they finished T8 and 16^th respectively.

Amandeep had rounds of 74, 68 and 70 to aggregate 1-under 212 at the Tegelberga Golf Club while Vani finished on 2-over 215 (70-74-71).

The Trelleborgs Kommun, won by home player Maja Stark by one shot, was the final leg of the LET Access Series’ Swedish swing.

Also read: Nishtha Madan brings home fifth career title with Dallas Cup win