Malaga (Spain), Nov 27 2024-
Aditi Ashok leads a strong Indian contingent of four players at the season-ending Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de Espana. Joining the defending champion, Aditi will be Diksha Dagar, a two-time LET winner, and the duo Pranavi Urs and Tvesa Malik, multiple winners on their home Tour, the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour. Aditi will get her title defence underway on Thursday alongside Belgium’s Manon De Roey and England’s Bronte Law.
Pranavi Urs will play with Annabel Dimmock of England and Ana Pelaez Trivino of Spain, while Diksha tees off with Nastasia Nadaud of France and Agatha Sauzon, also of France. Tvesa Malik is drawn with Ines Laklalech of Morocco and Chloe Williams of Wales. Last year Aditi Ashok produced rounds of 69-68-68-66 at Real Club de Golf Las Brisas to win her fifth Ladies European Tour (LET) title by two strokes over Anne Van Dam.
Reflecting on her victory, the 26-year-old didn’t remember a lot of the tournament but was reminded by a recent post on the LET social media channels. Aditi recalled how she stayed patient on the final day in 2023. “Actually, I forgot quite a lot of what happened last year because when I saw the highlight reel and I saw my scorecard, I realized, I made so many birdies coming in,” she said.
“That final day was a bit of a test of patience for me because I felt like nothing was happening all day and then I finally dropped some putts and got the win. I always enjoy coming back to this tournament because even before I won, I played well here, I finished second once, I think top-five, and top-ten a couple of times. It was a good week,” she added.
“[On the 18th hole in 2023] It was an awkward bunker shot for me, it was a bit too long for my 60-degree wedge, so I had to hit it with a 54 and I knew it wouldn’t stop quick enough. It was a crazy idea to use the backstop, but then me and my dad thought it would work and if you hit it a little long, it will roll back, so that worked out perfectly,” she said.
This year’s tournament is being played at a different venue with Real Club Guadalhorce Golf in Malaga hosting the event for the first time.
Thinking about how she played in 2023, Aditi is aware she doesn’t have to play perfectly but knows that she can improve round on round.
She explained: “I think the golf courses are different from each other, and different places too, so I don’t know how much the weather will be similar.”
Aditi splits her time throughout the year playing on the LET and the LPGA Tour, however in the latter part of the year she has taken time out and spent a longer period at home.
She continued: “I think I was a little golfed out. I played a lot of weeks in a row this year and just felt like I needed a bit of a break, so, I just went home for five, or six weeks and got enough practice in.
“I was excited for this week, but I just needed a few weeks off to just go to the gym and practice because I felt like I was playing and trying to do stuff on the golf course, but it wasn’t happening because I hadn’t practiced enough,” she said. (Agency)
