Bangalore trio all set to make its mark

Sharmila, Nikki and Rani look to compete against top golfers

Perhaps for the first time in the history of the tournament three women from the City, more specifically from the Karnataka Golf Association, will pit their skills against the best from the Ladies European Tour and the Ladies Asian Golf Tour at Gurgaon.

The trio -- Sharmila, Nikki Ponappa and Rani Sonti -- which loves to call itself a ‘South Indian team’, sounded optimistic about the journey ahead that could make a huge difference to their careers.

Sharmila, just 19 and blessed with oodles of talent, is probably the face of Indian golf at the moment. At 5’11’’ and with an ability to strike the ball long, the fashionable lass has played some scintillating golf this season to pocket three titles on the Indian Tour this season.

Nikki can be best described as a gambler who puts her heart where her mouth is. With a Masters degree in Business Administration and drawing a handsome salary, Nikki decided to ditch the corporate attire and instead chose to slog it out in the sun for a meagre percentage of her once fat pay cheque.

Rani, the senior most at 41, has a lesser experience in professional golf as she has to don multiple roles. Apart from working for a golf management company, Rani also teaches golf at the KGA and takes time off in between to play in tournaments.

“I am just happy to be a part of the big picture,” said Rani, referring to the $300,000 flagship event. “Personally, I don’t practice or play as much as a regular pro should. Maybe the Indian Open will give me a clear picture on where I stand in Asian and
European golf.

“At the start of the season I was playing well and decided to give it a shot and I am doing pretty well. I’ve been in the money in the five pro events we’ve had so far. In a way it will help me decide if I want to stick with the game as a playing pro or continue as a teaching pro,” added Rani.

Nikki too sounded excited about participating in her second Indian Open and first tri-sanctioned event.  “Last year, I was one of the five Indians to make the cut. For me it’s going to be the first international exposure. The good thing about coming from a sales background is you always look at the graph and mine is heading in good direction.”

Unlike the two, Sharmila, wary of the huge burden, wants to make her participation count.  “I want to be like (C) Muniyappa,” stressed Sharmila, referring to the KGA-grown hero’s historic Indian Open (men) triumph at the same course last September. “My goal is to shoot under-par because some of them shoot nine or ten under consistently. Pressure is on me but I want to leave a mark like Muniyappa.”