Aditi Ashok pro debut in Australia next month 

- instead of becoming Stanford Uni student

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

It's funny how things can work out in life in general and golf in particular.

Take  Aditi Ashok, the 17-year-old girl from Bangalore, India, who won the St RuleTrophy, the British women's open amateur stroke play title and was silver medallist in the European individual women's amateur stroke play championship - all in 2015.

She wanted to become a student at Stanford University, California, alma mater of Tiger Woods and Mhairi McKay to name to but two, but was knocked back because she was not clever enough to meet the university's educational standards.

Scot Anne Walker, who is Stanford University's Director of Women's Golf, told me:

"We would have loved to have Aditi come play at Stanford. Unfortunately, as you say, her academics didn't fit with the University. Stanford doesn't make exceptions for athletes and therefore we can only recruit players who are both exceptional in golf and school."

So Aditi instead targeted a place on the Ladies European Tour by qualifying for the Final Q School in Morocco last month - and she won the five-round endurance test with a brilliant 90=hole aggregate of double-digit sub par quality.
She will make her pro debut in Australia next month at the Women's Victoria Open from February 4 to 7.
Miss Ashok has to have a guardian with her at tournaments up to her 18th birthday but her mum and dad travel the world with her, so that's no problem.
She was No 11 in last week's women's world amateur rankings but will now earn money - as she undoubtedly will - with her golf prowess.
As I said at the beginning, it's funny how things work out.
If Stanford University had accepted Aditi as a student it would have been at least four years before she turned professional.
Interestingly enough, when I gave Anne Walker the news of Aditi Ashok's pro debut, she replied, by E-mail:
 "Wow. That will be a difficult blow for South Carolina (University) - I know they were relying on Aditi to be their star player."

+Picture of Aditi Ashok, by Cal Carson Golf Agency, at St Andrews after her victory last year in the St Rule Trophy