NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 21 -Only one invitee slot is remaining as preparation for the Magical Ladies Kenya Open (February 2-5) gathers momentum.
Among the big names who have occupied 10 out of the possible 11 invitee spaces include two-times Indian Olympian Aditi Ashok, Florentyna Parker of England, Germany’s Karolin Lampert (Golf Club St. Leon-Rot) and Pasqualle Coffa from The Netherlands’ Bernardus Golf.
Kenya’s amateur quartet of Naomi Wafula, Mercy Nyanchama, Chanelle Wangari (16) of VetLab Golf Club and Nancy Wairimu are also beneficiaries of the invitee section which also has highflying 16-year-old Indian amateur Avani Prashanth.
Prashanth become the first Indian golfer to compete in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur event: and will be spurred on by the strong presence of compatriots who include Aditi.
The Indian prodigy was also among the six young Indians who teed off at the at the Women’s Amateur Asia Pacific Championship in November last year.
–Aditi’s MKLO comeback in four years–
Meanwhile, Aditi will resume her elusive hunt over the Baobab Course at Vipingo Ridge after she finished one shot behind inaugural winner Esther Henseleit of Germany in 2019 when Kenya joined the Ladies European Tour (LET).
Aditi chased the then 20-year-old German all the way, but was left to rue a triple-bogey 6 on the Par-3 eighth which denied her what was going to be her first win on Kenyan soil.
Initially, it had turned out to be a three-way battle between Aditi, Henseleit and Julia Engstrom, but it was the German who had the last laugh.
The 2019 edition was incidentally the season finale for the LET that year at Vipingo where Henseleit carded a final day course record (63) to became the third player in LET history to win the Order of Merit and Rookie of the Year titles in the same season.
Although no one knows what’s up the sleeves of Aditi, it will be interesting to see how her rivalry with Henseleit pans out in the four-day 72-hole stroke play extravaganza which will be LET’s season-opener.
Also representing India are Vani Kapoor (DLF Golf and Country Club), Seher Atwal and Diksha Dagar . The Indians are enlisted in the oversubscribed MKLO entry which currently has a projected cut off of 96 players.