To putt it simply, Aditi Ashok has the game
Shona Manco
Chandigarh, August 19
Even as the golf fraternity basks in Aditi Ashok’s performance at the Tokyo Olympics, where she missed a medal by a whisker, she’s played another tournament and finished second in qualification for the Women’s British Open at Carnoustie, where she played her first round today.
Aditi is India’s rising golf star, of this there is no doubt. How far can she go, what she collects along the way remains to be seen.
With the best Olympics finish by an Indian golfer to her credit, most Major appearances by an Indian and three European Tour wins, the 23-year-old has now trained her eyes on the LPGA Tour.
Olympics experience
“There was definitely a lot of good stuff happening all week in Tokyo,” says Aditi on the phone from Carnoustie. “It was a great experience. I know a lot of people felt that if the last round had got washed out (due to a storm), I would have won a medal… But I want to win the right way — a golf tournament is played over 72 holes.”
Aditi made India wake up at 4am to watch the golf, and people discussed putting and driving — even those who never followed golf before! She easily led the putting statistics with an average 27 putts each round, including a stunning 24 in Round 4.
A few more yards off the tee, observers claimed, would have won her gold. Aditi, however, provides a sensible argument: “My putting is good because I am a short hitter.”
“I was always a frail kid and did not hit the ball long,” she adds. “I played with boys, so it is not a foreign feeling for me to compete with women who out-drive me. But I learnt how to hit it straight and hole putts.”
A factor that affects her yardage off the tee is that even though she started playing at seven, her swing coach did not allow her to hit a driver until she was 11 — his logic was that she hit her 3-wood as long as her driver.
Also, in Tokyo Aditi was affected by post-Covid weakness, after contracting the virus in May. “In hindsight I realise I lost a lot of strength. I was hitting the ball a lot longer before that,” she says.
Though the potential to gain a few yards exists, it is not a priority for her. She was once advised to take a year off to get stronger in order to gain length off the tee. “I felt I needed to keep playing week after week and focus on getting better. I am not against making swing changes but I believe one has to work with what one has,” she says. “The aim is to get the ball into the hole. No one cares how you do it.”
Putting intrigued her as a child. “It is one of the most non-technical aspects of the game. It’s more about speed, reading the greens and feel,” says Aditi. “Also, when you compete, you learn to adapt. I worked hard on my putting. I taught myself everything I need to know. It didn’t require me to take a year off or hit the gym. It was just about getting the ball into the hole.”
Golf in India
Many feel India lacks the facilities to create world-class golfers, but Aditi disagrees: “I played on my own and made the effort to play internationally. It all comes down to how hard you want it.”
“Children in school play cricket or other sports, but we need to encourage them to try golf,” says Aditi. “Once we have the talent, we need to focus on maturing it. Golf courses need to make allowances for juniors because if you make it difficult for them to play on the course, they will give up.”
And, of course, it’s all about “getting the ball into the hole”. “If you can’t go and play on a course, how will you do that?” she asks.
Aditi starts with a 71
Carnoustie: Aditi Ashok carded a 1-under 71 in the first round of the Women’s British Open to be placed Tied-23, with a few players still on the course. Aditi had a great start, with a birdie on the par-4 first. However, after four consecutive pars, she dropped shots on the sixth and seventh holes and turned at 1-over. A birdie on the 10th put her back at even-par, and she followed that with birdies on the 13th and 14th to move to Tied-13. She could not gain a stroke after that and, instead, dropped a shot on the 18th to end with a 71. Sei Young Kim, Madelene Sagstrom and Nelly Korda were Tied-1st at a 5-under 67.
Coaching herself
“In golf the term coach often refers to swing instructors. A coach teaches course management, scoring and much more. All these aspects of the game were taught to me by my father,” says Aditi. “He spent every day with me on the golf course. The mental aspects of the game were taught to me by my mother — dealing with cameras or other players or how to manage my emotions and stress.”
Aditi believes the methods she has adopted have worked, getting her where she is today. “I haven’t had a coach since March 2017. I don’t claim to be technically sound or to know it all, but I know how to manage my swing,” she says confidently. “A swing instructor can teach you how to swing a club but you have to play different courses and adapt. No one can teach you to play a links course. You have to figure it out yourself.”
