Christine Wold won the last edition of the Hero Women’s Indian Open in 2019
Big time international women’s pro golf returns to India this week as the US$400,000 Hero Women’s Indian Open tees off at the DLF Golf & Country Club, Gurgaon, with around 130 lady pros from the Ladies European Tour and Women’s Golf Association of India teeing it up.
Look who I met at the @MyDLF5 ahead of the @WomenIndianOpen —
Some of the most promising faces of Indian womens golf –
Pranavi Urs, playing her 1st HWIO as a pro, cousin Vidhatri Urs. & the hugely talented #AvaniPrashanth @HeroMotoCorp #ItsThatWeek ! @wgaofindia @LETgolf pic.twitter.com/5a78emicgk— V Krishnaswamy (@Swinging_Swamy) October 17, 2022
The Bakshi sisters – Hitaashee and Jahanvi – have something to say as we get ready for the #HWIO2022 in October
.@HeroMotoCorp @KAGolfIndia @LETgolf pic.twitter.com/XEl2zYegss— Hero Women’s Indian Open (@WomenIndianOpen) September 23, 2022
The players to watch this year will be India’s brigade of upcoming teenage phenoms who will get their first chance to to play at this level since 2019. Since then the top 4 Indian talents 16 year old Avani Prashanth, 19 year old Pranavi Urs, 18 year old Sneha Singh and 18 year old Hitaashee Bakshi have really reached a very advanced level .
Aditi Ashok poses with her winning trophy in 2016
At the same time India’s only LPGA Tour player and the only Indian to have won the Hero Women’s Open, Aditi Ashok will be back for the first time since 2017 and will go up against these youngsters who have the distance advantage over her as they all hit the ball further distances off the tee than Aditi does. However Aditi has the advantage of 6 years experience on the LPGA Tour – golf’s biggest stage and she has the confidence here, having won at DLF.
All said and done its going to be an intriguing week with the 70 or so foreigners, many Tour winners among them take on the Indians and the teenagers taking on the more seasoned players. All this against the backdrop of the infamous Gary Player course which is more demanding than most courses played on the European Tour.
Credits:-
Photo – LET Flickr & V Krishnaswamy