Women’s Golf: April 2019

Park reclaims Top-Spot following World Championship

Two-time major champion Sung-hyun Park earned her sixth LPGA title at the $1.5 million HSBC Women’s World Championship at Sentosa Golf Club, Singapore (February 28-March 3). The 25-year-old shot a final round 64 to clinch a two-stroke win over New Zealand’s Minjee Lee. In so doing, she also reclaimed the World No. 1 ranking from Thai sensation Ariya Jutanugarn.

South Korea’s Park won thrice in 2018, including a major at the Women’s PGA Championship.

RELATED: Women’s Golf March 2019

Gaurika Wins Leg 5, Ridhima first multiple winner of the season

20-year-old Gaurika took charge of the Leg 5 at Classic Golf & Country Club and won it with a stroke over the opening leg winner 25-year-old Neha Tripathi. An elated Gaurika said, “Yes it definitely feels good to be leading all the days and having my first win of the season in such a style.”

Gaurika remained on top of the leaderboard on all three days of the event before winning it with a stroke over Neha Tripathi, the current Order of Merit leader.

Following Gaurika’s footsteps Ridhima Dilawari too took charge of the Leg 6 held at Jaypee Greens Greater Noida to clinch the title with thumping majority of 10 shots over Leg 5 winner Gaurika, which is the second biggest winning margin this season after Tvesa Malik’s 15-shot win in the third leg earlier in the season. It was also the first time this year that any player had shot three straight rounds in under-par scores.

With the win, Ridhima became first multiple winner of 2019 season. Statistically speaking the most wins in a single season are 7, achieved by Vani Kapoor in 2016. The year when she dominated the money list with a whopping ₹12.5 lakh in career earnings.

India finish T-6 at Queen Sirikit Cup

South Korea emerged victors at the 41st Queen Sirikit Cup (March 6-8) at Glenelg Golf Club, Adelaide by a jaw-dropping 16-stroke margin over hosts Australia. It was their 21st triumph at the prestigious annual.

The Indian contingent, represented by 14-year-old Anika Varma, 14-year-old Hitaashee Bakshi and 18-year-old Jahanvi Bakshi, finished T-6 along with Japan.
Noida-based Anika shot level-par 219 to stand T-6 along with Australia’s Doey Choi. Hitaashee and Jahanvi stood T-16 and T-29 respectively.

This year’s tournament saw participation from 14 national teams: Australia, China, Chinese-Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

The R&A to invest £80 million for Next Gen

The R&A is investing £80 million into women’s and mixed golf over the next ten years to boost participation in the sport. Women’s British Open champion Georgia Hall will support The R&A’s drive to inspire more women, girls and families into playing golf by becoming its
latest ambassador.

The R&A is investing £80 million into women’s and mixed golf over the next ten years to boost participation in the sport. Women’s British Open champion Georgia Hall will support The R&A’s drive to inspire more women, girls and families into playing golf by becoming its
latest ambassador.

Hall, said: “… I am passionate about helping to grow the game so it’s very natural for me to support The R&A’s great initiatives, particularly for women and children, over the coming years. The Women in Golf Charter is a great first step and I look forward to working with them on some exciting initiatives over the next few years”

Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said: “The Charter is a strong statement of intent from the golf industry that it has to change and a commitment on behalf of all of us to take measures designed to achieve positive change for women, girls and families. This is crucial to growing participation in the sport in the years ahead…”

The charter supporting women’s golf was announced in May 2018 and to date, 107 organisations have given their commitment, pledging to build on current initiatives and develop new projects to increase the number of women, girls and families playing golf and becoming members of clubs, as well as giving women wider opportunities to enjoy careers and volunteering in
the sport.