BENGALURU: Top amateur Avani Prashanth learns something new each time she walks off the course. On Tuesday, the 16-year-old returned from the KGA course richer in experience without even swinging a club.
Avani, the two-time all-India amateur champion – in juniors as well — and multiple winner on the Women’s Pro Golf Tour, learnt a few important lessons while caddying for her playing partner and local pro M Dharma in The Challenge presented by KGA, which got underway here on Tuesday.
“It’s nice to see golf from a different perspective. It took a little bit of getting used to, but after a couple of holes we started working well,” said Avani, the first Indian to win the Queen Sirikit Cup in Manila last month.
“It’s great being with a seasoned player like Dharma, to see how he approaches and deals with difficult holes and bad shots. It has been a good experience,” added the Bengalurean, touted as the next big thing in women’s golf.
“I asked Avani jokingly last month if she would like to caddie for me,” said Dharma, who shot two-under 70 in the first round. The country’s top amateur just jumped at his offer. “I thought why not. I have never caddied for anyone, and in a professional event with a pro would be even better,” she recalled. When asked what lessons she learnt, Avani said: “I think the way Dharma came back after he bogeyed the 11th hole, his second of the day, was amazing. It didn’t affect him at all. I think it would have affected me because bogeying a par-5 is something I don’t like to do and that’s what he did.”
“He was calm and came back to finish one-under on the front nine. Even when he did have bad holes on three and four, he was still calm and that was a big difference between me and him.”
Avani said that she has carried her own bag in a few IGU events but caddying for someone else is a different ball game altogether. “You cannot show your frustration and I think you have to be there to support the golfer.”
When asked if Dharma showed his disapproval for wrong lines if any on the green, Avani replied in the negative. “He reads greens well, and I do a pretty good job of it. In a lot of places, our lines were coming together which was great. Since we have played together so much in the past, I know what he does. That’s why it was pretty comfortable caddying for him,” Avani said, hoping he would go really low in the second round on Wednesday.
