India No. 1 Veer Ahlawat (left) and two-time All India Ladies Amateur Champion Avani Prashanth (right) are set to make their respective debuts this year on the Men’s and Ladies European Tours
With 2024 being written off as a singularly unremarkable year for Indian golf, what can readers look to with hope in 2025?
The Ladies European Tour – of course!! The LET in 2025 will feature an unprecedented six Indian players, marking a significant milestone for the country. Joining Olympian Diksha Dagar and LET rookie Pranavi Urs from Mysore are Bangalore’s 18-year-old Avani Prashanth, who earned full playing rights at the LET Final Qualifying Tournament in December, 2024 Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour (HWPGT) Rankings winner Hitaashee Bakshi from Delhi, 2023 HWPGT Rankings winner Sneha Singh of Hyderabad, and Chandigarh’s seasoned pro Amandeep Drall.
The 2025 season promises to be transformative for Indian women’s golf, with the highest-ever representation on the LET. This influx reflects the effort of talent supported by corporate sponsorship which has helped these players gain the experience they needed internationally to earn their playing rights in Europe. Only with such continued corporate sponsorship, can we hope that future talent doesn’t get wasted and actually gets to the next level.
And what of the men’s side? Joining Sharma on the European (DP World) Tour in 2025 is the 6’4” tall Veer Ahlawat from Delhi, the 2024 TATA Steel Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) Rankings champion. Ahlawat enjoyed a stellar 2024 season in India, clinching two titles and securing seven top-10 finishes, including an impressive runner-up spot at the US$2.25 million Hero Indian Open.
With his DP World (European) Tour playing rights in hand, as a result of his PGTI No. 1 finish, let’s watch out for the long-hitting Ahlawat to fare well in Europe.
And in Asia – will Indians like the seasoned Ajeetesh Sandhu help rebuild India’s former status in Asia after an abominable 2024 season where the top Indian, Gaganjeet Bhullar, finished 48th in the Asian Tour rankings?
In the USA, will Rayhan Thomas, of Indian origin but born and bred in Dubai, make waves on the Korn Ferry Tour (the PGA Tour’s 2nd rung tour with around 26 tournaments of average $1 million prize money each)?
Watch this space for all updates.
