Avani will head to US for the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in April
17-year-old Avani Prashanth of Bangalore, ranked 39th on the World Amateur Golf Rankings, shot rounds of 68-69-71-71 to register a tied-10th finish at the Women’s Amateur Asia Pacific (WAAP) at Siam Country Club in Pattaya, Thailand, the best finish ever by an Indian at this event.
Last year, Avani scored 73-71-74-75 for a tied-28th finish at the tournament played in Singapore which shows the improvements she has made.
Saanvi Somu, another teenage golfer from Bangalore, playing the WAAP event for the first time, shot 73-72-75-73 to register a tied-48th finish in the tournament, the only other Indian to make the cut in Thailand.
Mysore’s Vidhatri Urs, the current All India Ladies Amateur champion, shot 73-77 (+6) to miss the cut by four-strokes. Vidhatri is cousin sister of pro Pranavi Urs
Other Indian participants (who missed the cut) include –
Mannat Brar – 82-75 (+13)
Heena Kang – 81-79 (+16)
Keerthana Rajeev Nair – 81-79 (+16)
Chinese Taipei’s 19-year-old Chun-Wei Wu, ranked 264th on the WAGR carded rounds of 67-65-66-72 to win the title by a two-shot margin at a total score of 18-under 270.
The WAAP winner gets a spot at three major pro championships in 2024 – the AIG Women’s Open, the Amundi Evian Championship and the Chevron Championship.
The winner also receives invitations to the 121st Women’s (British) Amateur Championship, the 2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur (ANWA) Championship, the Hana Financial Group Championship in Korea, and the Women’s Australian Open.
In the first five editions of the WAAP, players from Thailand (Atthaya Thitikul and Eila Galitsky), Japan (Yuka Yasuda and Mizuki Hashimoto) and Chinese Taipei (Ting-Hsuan Huang) emerged as winners.
The WAAP championship was developed by The R&A of St. Andrews and the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) to inspire future generations of women golfers.