Pranavi Urs finished 13th at the Ladies European Tour Q-school in Morocco recently to earn a full card for the upcoming season.
DH file Photo
Bengaluru: The Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar Golf Club (JWGC) in Mysuru is a sight to behold. Spread at the foot of Chamundi hills, a horse race track divides its inside nine (open and windy) from the outside nine holes (narrow and angled). This piece of beauty, though, soon fades away like a mirage on a hot road when the same layout unfolds its brutal side with difficult lies, blowing headwinds, ‘out of bounds’ on both sides of dog-legged fairways, elevated coin-sized greens over water hazards…
The 18-hole ordeal isn’t for the faint hearted. But for the brave ones who refuse to get intimidated, the JWGC enjoys a reputation of preparing world-class golfers - the latest being one of its favourite childs, Pranavi Urs.
“I never play well at my home course,” grumbles Pranavi. “I don’t know why. I have played it a zillion times but I haven’t been able to crack the code,” she adds.
The tough lessons learnt at JWGC, however, appear to be benefitting Pranavi in courses all over the world. The 20-year-old finished 13th, after five rounds of Q-school, in Morocco to earn a full card on the Ladies European Tour (LET).
The youngster credits her climb to JWGC and its weekend tournament culture. There are as many as 20-22 club golf events in a calendar year that have seen some of the best players from Karnataka and elsewhere taking part. Playing with/against golfers of varied age groups, Pranavi was all of seven when she entered her first tournament here. And not surprisingly, the loquacious and hyperactive kid became an instant hit.
“It taught me how to compete. To play and win against boys and girls much older than me was a matter of pride. The fearless attitude was instilled in me by playing these events and facing challenges on the JWGC course,” she recalls.
After winning the best lady golfer award for five years in a row, Pranavi went on to capture the gross category title at the clubs’ most prestigious tournament - The Maharaja Cup - as a 13-year-old.
“That’s when they banned me from playing the weekend events because they thought it was unfair on the rest,” she laughs. “I was only allowed to play for honour sometimes, not for the big prizes.”
However, her being good at the sport will henceforth givePranavi entry to bigger and better championships on the world’s biggest golf stage.
“As of now I’ll be playing 22 LET events on an average. If the first half of the year goes well with a couple of top-5/ 10 finishes, I should make the cut for a few Majors in the second part.”
Which is the one event she is looking forward to playing the most? ‘The Jabra Ladies Open’, played at the Evian Resort Golf Club in the heart of the French Alps, is the instant reply.
“Yes, I’m super excited. Playing in new countries and courses are something I look forward to. Hopefully, I can come back, once in a while, and tell you that playing all over the world has given me enough to finally play well at JWGC,” she quips.
Well, you can take a person out of Mysuru, but not Mysuru out of a person.