Young Indian golfer Aditi Ashok in top 15 finish at Asia Pacific Juniors

Aditi Ashok & Karandeep Kochar

August 27th, Taiwan: Aditi Ashok, who was recently declared the British Ladies Amateur Champion, finished 15th at the Asia-Pacific Junior Golf Championship with teammate Karandeep Kochar.

The teenager, who is ranked #1 in the Indian Golf Union Order of Merit, and Kochar ended the 3-day tournament at 15-over 303. Golfers Shubham Narain and Ridhima Dilawari secured 15th place for India with 3-day total of 16-over par 304 at the par-72 Sunrise Golf & country club, Taiwan.

The championship saw a total of 25 teams and representation from over 13 countries.

In the individual strokeplay boys championship, Kochar and Narain finished tied 7^th and tied 12th respectively, while in the girls championship, Dilawari finished at tied 7^th, with Ashok in 15th.

17-year-old Ashok, from Bengaluru, did not play very impressive round as she had a single birdie on 10th and made bogeys on the 4th, 5th, 13th, 15th, 17th and 18th while Chandigarh’s Kochar, 16, bogeyed 4th, 5th, 14th, 15th and made a single birdie on the 6th.

“I didn’t play as well as I could have. I missed a few easy putts today which didn’t help me score but overall I was happy with my game and iron play,” said Ashok who also won the 2015 St. Rule Trophy at St. Andrews last month.

“I think I played pretty decent but made some silly mistakes. My hitting was good and Ineed to improve my putting to perform in international tournaments like these. This was a tremendous learning experience,” said Kochar, who is the youngest member of the squad.

Delhi lad Shubham Narian, 17, who was playing well in the front nine after shooting a birdie on 6th, suffered a triple bogey on 9th followed by bogeys on 10th, 11th, 12th and then managed to convert another birdie on 17th for four-over 76.

His teammate Dilawari also had a blemish-free front nine but saw a rollercoaster ride in the back nine as she made bogeys on 11th, 13th, 14th, 17th, 18th and birdies on 12th, 16th for three-over 75.

“I think the round was good except for some bogeys in the back nine. Overall the round was good except for a few holes,” she said.

Leading from day one, the Korean team of Hyun-Kyung Park and Young-woong Kim won the inaugural championship at eight-under 280.