Singapore: On a high following her imperious performance at last week’s Queen Sirikit Cup, Avani Prashanth will be looking to further enhance her reputation and bolster her world ranking when she tees-off in next week’s Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP).
The 16-year-old Indian blew away a world-class field at Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club to win the individual title in the 43rd edition of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Ladies Golf Team Championship.
Her 10-shot victory matched the largest winning margin since the event was inaugurated in 1979. She lapped the field and almost single-handedly took her country to the brink of what would have been their first Queen Sirikit Cup title.
What made Prashanth’s success even sweeter was the fact that it was achieved in an elite 36-player field consisting of no fewer than nine players rated more highly than her in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).
Among them were Japanese Yuna Araki (fifth) and Mizuki Hashimoto (15th), Korean Kim Min-sol (16th), New Zealand’s Fiona Xu (22nd), China’s Zhang Yahui (31st) and Chinese Taipei’s Tiffany Huang Ting-hsuan (37th).
Although she began last week in 93rd place in the WAGR, there was never the slightest hint of an inferiority complex on Prashanth’s part. Far from it.
At no stage of her fledgeling career could the Bangalore teenager be accused of lacking confidence or belief in her ability.
From an early age she’s been imbued with a strong sense that her destiny is to be among the best female golfers on the planet.
When she talks openly about turning professional next year, capturing an Olympic golfing medal for India in Paris in 2024 and going on to win Majors and claim the number one spot in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, it’s not delivered in a boastful or arrogant manner.
There’s a pragmatic assuredness in her measured tone – as if the path ahead has been meticulously laid out. To a degree it has, her father setting annual targets for his daughter.
Also evident is the clarity of thought in what the future holds and how she approaches each and every round.
As she prepares to mount a challenge for the WAAP title at Singapore Island Country Club (SICC), Prashanth already knows in her own mind where she wants – and expects – to be in 18 months’ time.
Over the past 18 months, she’s consistently spoken about her ambition of winning a medal at the Paris Olympics.
“Since I was maybe eight or nine it’s been my dream to go and play in the Olympics. And back then, golf wasn’t even in the Olympics,” said Prashanth, who was inspired by the performance of her compatriot Aditi Ashok, who missed out on an Olympic medal by the narrowest of margins in Tokyo.
“Definitely, Aditi’s performance inspired me a lot more to go and win the gold,” said Prashanth, who suggests she’ll turn pro by mid-2024.
Assuming she sticks to that schedule, that means she’ll likely have the chance to defend her Queen Sirikit Cup individual crown early next year, two opportunities to add her name to the WAAP roll of honour and a final shot at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, an event in which she participated in 2022 but was not invited to this year.
While she admits to frustration at not being able to showcase her burgeoning talent over the hallowed fairways of the Georgia venue at the start of April, she won’t allow it to prey on her mind and distract her from the immediate task at hand – following Hashimoto and Huang into the WAAP winner’s enclosure.
If Prashanth needs an extra incentive, it will come from the painful memory of last year’s WAAP in Thailand where she was laid low with sickness on the eve of the event. Feeling distinctly under par, she could only muster rounds of 74 and 76 and missed the half-way cut by two.
In the wake of her Queen Sirikit Cup masterclass, you can rest assured that Prashanth will attack the SICC’s New Course with relish.
“I always have an aggressive mindset,” said Prashanth. As was the case at Manila Southwoods, her length off the tee – she averages 270 yards with her drives – may well prove a decisive advantage in Singapore.
In an ominous warning to her rivals, she said: “I’m feeling very good and want to carry on my good form into the WAAP.”
