leader on the Order of Merit Vani Kapoor says more Indian women will turn professional if the age limit on it is curbed or reduced. She was commenting on 17-year-old Aditi Ashok playing on the lPGA Tour - second Indian ever to do so - at the upcoming Sime Darby lPGA Malaysia.
“There is one thing that can be worked on to promote more Indian players coming through. For Indian female golfers, the age for turning professional is 18. And the men can turn pro at any age. So that’s one thing that kind of holds girls back from turning professional. Once they turn 18, they want to go for college golf and that takes another four years.
“So by the time it becomes too late. You should already be peaking at this time when you’re 24-25. If there is no age limit or barrier, the number of women turning professional will rise,” she said at the launch of the Hero Women’s Indian Open that tees off from October 23 and will be played at DlF Golf and Country Club, Gurgaon.
The event which has been sanctioned by ladies European Tour (lET), ladies Asian Golf Tour (lAGT) and Women’s Golf Association of India (WGAI) will also see the prize money go up to $400,000 from $300,000.
Confirming participation and defending her crown will be Gwladys Nocera with tough competition coming from Melissa Reid, Becky Brewerton and Thidapa Suwannapura from the European Tour.
Indian challenge will be spearheaded by Vani, Amandeep Drall, Sharmila Nicollet, Neha Tripathi and Aditi to name a few.
However, another potential contender will be Cheyenne Woods - niece of Tiger Woods who has been touted as a big talent since an early age. She’s won two professional titles so far with one in Australia coming on the European Tour in December 2014.