Avani Prashanth
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YEAR-WISE DEVELOPMENTS
2023
Queen Sirikit Cup emerged victorious
R Satya, February 25, 2023: The Times of India
Bengaluru : Teen sensation Avani Prashanth, the country’s top amateur, completed a brilliant wire-to-wire victory in the prestigious Queen Sirikit Cup golf tournament at the Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club.
The 16-year-old Bengalurean shot a closing four-under 68 for a whopping 10-shot victory over New Zealand’s Fiona Xu (69). Avani, who became the first Indian to claim the top honours in the tournament’s 43-year history, finished with an impressive total of 16-under 272 for her maiden international title. Gauri Monga’s tied third-place finish in 2011 was the previous best by an Indian. Powered by Avani’s inspirational performance, India finished second, five shots behind South Korea, who annexed the Asia-Pacific Amateur Ladies Golf Team Championship title with a score of 12-under 564. The seven-under 569 show was India’s best-ever performance, bettering the fourth place on a couple of occasions.
“It feels good to win my maiden international title,” Avani told TOI. “Actually, the icing on the cake was the number of shots I won by. That definitely makes it that much more special. ”
The tenth standard student of Greenwood High International School was in her zone from the get-go in Manila. After opening with a 68 to share the joint lead, Avani shot a sizzling six-under 66 for a seven-shot lead at the halfway stage.
She didn’t look back thereafter with rounds of 70 and 68 to decimate a quality field. Ranked No. 93 on the World Amateur Golf Rankings, she beat 10 golfers ranked above her en route to the title, including Japan’s world No. 5 Yuna Araki, who finished 14 shots behind the Indian ace.
Avani, who opened the season with an impressive tied ninth-place finish on the Ladies European Tour in Kenya, had five birdies and the lone blemish came on the par-3 fifth where she mishit her8-iron tee shot. “The distance was a big advantage over the field because the course is tight and punishing. If you miss fairways, you are either in the bunkers or out of play. I think I had a lot more options off the tee,” said Avani, one of the longest hitters in the game in the world.
“Keeping the ball in play was the key. My putting was solid, and everything worked this week,” added the tenth grader who will be giving her board exams in three days’ time.
KNOW AVANI
Name | Avani Prashanth
Age | 16 (7-10-2006)
Started playing | At 3 years and 10 months
Status | Amateur
Home club | KGA, Bengaluru
Coach: Laurence Brotheridge
World amateur ranking | 93
Achievements | Pro events: 3 titles on Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour; 3 LET events – T-9 (Magical Kenya Ladies Open, 2023), T-12 (Hero Women’s Indian Open, 2022), T-66 (Amundi Masters, 2022). Amateur | International: Queen Sirikit Cup – winner;Australian Masters of the Amateurs: T-6; Australian Women’s Amateur: T-17; WAAP: T-16 (2021); R&A Junior girls: T-9 (2022); WATC: T-44 (2022); Augusta National Women’s Amateur T-21 (2022); Sage Valley Junior Invitational: T-6 (2022).
National | All-India Ladies Amateur Championship: Winner (2021 & 2022); Billoo Sethi Trophy: Winner (2021 & 2022): All-India Junior Amateur Championship: Winner (2021 & 2022). Multiple winner in Ladies, Category A (15-17 years), Category ‘B’ (13-14) and Category ‘C’ (11-12).
Wins her first international pro title
R Satya, August 26, 2023: The Times of India
Bengaluru: India’s top amateur Avani Prashanth came up with a sensational back nine on the final day to put the pros in the shade and annex her maiden international pro title at the Ahlsell Final on the Ladies European Tour’s Access Series at Hoor, Sweden.
The 16-year-old Bengalurean, starting the day four shots behind the leader and evenpar after the first nine holes, shot five-under on the back nine for a splendid one-shot victory over local girls Isabell Ekstrom and Matilda Bjorkman (amateur).
The Asian Games-bound Avani’s closing five-under 67 helped her finish with a 54-hole aggregate of six-under 210. She became the first Indian to win on the LET Access Series. “It feels very good, mainly because it was unexpected. It just feels so surreal. This is my first pro win on international soil,” an elated Avani told TOI. “Going into the final round, trailing by four is not impossible but then the way I started my final round was not exactly the way you go into the final round — two bogeys in the first four holes. I’m glad I turned it around,” added the talented teen, a three-time winner on the Women’s Pro Tour in India.
Avani, winner of the Queen Sirikit Cup in Manila in February, got off to a rocky start, with bogeys on the first and fourth holes on a windswept day, before coming up with birdies on the fifth and eighth holes.
After missing two birdies on the 10th and 11th, she had a look at the leaderboard and realized she was just two shots back and in with a chance. “I told my friend Vidhatri Urs, who was caddying for me, that we definitely have a chance, and get this done. She said ‘we can but relax and don’t do anything dumb. Hit seven GIRs and be in position and we can take it from there’. And which is exactly what I did. I went birdie, birdie, eagle, par, par, birdie — five-under in six holes,” said Avani, who is planning to play the LET Q-School in December.
