SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE – MARCH 09: Avani Prashanth of India watches her shot during Day One of The Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship on The New Course at The Singapore Island Country Club on March 09, 2023 in Singapore. (Photo by Andrew Redington/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)
The Indian Golf Union will be sending teams for the prestigious Australian Masters of Amateur Championships and the Australian Amateurs this month in Australia.
The four-member team with two men and two women will play the two long established events, which kick off the action for the year. Avani Prashanth, who has decided to hold off her plans to turn pro for some time, will feature in both events alongside Heena Kang, while Sandeep Yadav and Rohit will play in the men’s section.
The team will first feature in the annual Australian Masters of Amateur Championship from Jan 9-12, 2024 at the Southern Golf Club. A week later the four will play at the high profile Australian Amateur Championship at the Yarra Yarra Golf Club and Keybrough Golf Club from Jan 16 to 19, 2024.
Avani Prashanth is the only India to be ranked in the Top-50 of the world and has represented India numerous times and even won the Queen Sirikit Cup and was fourth in the individual section of the World Amateur Team Championships in Abu Dhabi, besides winning a professional event, while being an amateur, in Europe. Heena, one of the two golf-playing sisters, Ceerat being the other, topped the domestic IGU Order of Merit for 2023 with a string of consistent performances and will wear India colours for the first time.
Among men, Rohit, who won twice last year in India and topped the IGU Order of Merit, and Sandeep Yadav, a consistent performer, will form the Indian team. Rohit was also the runner-up at the 2023 All India Amateur Championships in Kolkata. Interestingly, Sandeep Yadav won the 2022 All India Amateurs, the Indian Golf Union’s flagship event, which is more than 100 years old.
A two-time All India Amateur winner among women, Avani said, “It is always an honour to play for India. I have had some good results in 2023 and my long term aim is pro golf, but right now these two events in Australia, which are very prestigious, are my focus. I have a lot of big events coming up in 2024, and hopefully the results will be even better than 2023, which was a great year for me.”
Heena, who like Avani is coached by Laurence Brotheridge from Leeds, UK, is hoping to make a mark in her international debut.
