On November 27, Avani Prashanth of Karnataka defeated Chandigarh’s Mannat Brar 3 and 2 at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) in Kolkata at the Indian Golf Union (IGU) All India Ladies Golf Championship 2022. It was a much-anticipated result given Prashant's impressive performances prior to the tournament.
Although Brar gave Prashanth a tough fight, the final round of match play was a 36-hole tournament, which required a golfer to hold her nerve and show unshakable focus. The final began with Prashanth’s birdie, setting the tone for another consistent performance from the champion.
There were five days of match play, which meant that one had to win all five days to win the title. The first round featured 32 golfers, followed by the top 16 in the pre-quarter final round, the top eight in the quarter-finals, the top four in the semis and the top two in the final match. The final ended after 34 holes, two short of the stipulated number. The event also had stroke play prizes. Prashanth won with two rounds of 72 and an event-par score of 144. In the two-round stroke play portion, Brar was placed second.
Prashanth in action at RCGC
Founded in 1829, RCGC was initially in charge of all golf-related matters in India. It established a number of prestigious national golf tournaments, before founding The Indian Golf Union (IGU) in December 1955, with senior golfers from Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai coming together. The IGU began to help the growth of golf in India beyond the major metropolitan areas, organise junior level tournaments and send teams abroad for international events. Following the establishment of the IGU, all administrative powers of the RCGC were transferred to the latter, including the right to conduct the Amateur Golf Championship of India.
IGU announced that the winner of the All India Ladies Golf Championship would receive a Callaway set of her choice and that the runner-up would receive $1000. Prizes were presented by Rohan Ghosh, the RCGC Golf Captain; Devrishi Singhal, the RCGC CEO; Anil Bhargava, IGU Council Member; and Ranjit Singh, the RCGC Golf Convenor. The tournament director was Prantor Baruah.
