Hitaashee Bakshi has played DLF Golf and Country Club in every condition imaginable and is ready to take on the challenge on the Ladies European Tour (LET) this week.
The 21-year-old is in her first full season on the LET having secured status at Lalla Aicha Q-School in December of last year.
Bakshi has played in 10 events in 2025 making the cut in six events and recording a best finish of T12 at the Dutch Ladies Open.
The Indian player is making her fifth appearance in the Hero Women’s Indian Open having finished T15 in the 2024 edition and T20 in 2023.
It’s been nine years since an Indian won their home tournament – when Aditi Ashok secured victory in 2016 – and Bakshi is hopeful that will change this year.
“It’s been really nice this season,” she said. “It’s taken me three years to qualify for the LET, I got some status in December 2024.
“The Dutch Ladies Open was my first event, and it went pretty well and gave me a base for the few events that I have played. Some weeks were good and some weeks were bad, but I think that’s golf.
“Everyone is pumped up as Indian golfers that we want to win this event. Collectively, it doesn’t matter which Indian player wins, but we want an Indian to win the tournament. Nine is a very lucky number in India in some places, so maybe it will happen this year.”
A field of 111 players will tee it up in a 72-hole stroke play competition at DLF Golf and Country Club with a prize purse of $500,000 USD.
Bakshi, who won the WGAI Order of Merit in 2024, has played on the course in many different conditions and is ready to test her skills.
She added: “A lot of people are saying the course is playing differently, but for me it’s different altogether because I have played this course in all seasons. Nothing is different for me, and I feel really comfortable heading into this week.
“We all get golf courses like here where we are very excited to play. India has provided us with this golf course which provides us with a great challenge altogether and we’re all ready to test our skills on golf courses like this.”
Bakshi will tee it up at 11.11 am (local time) on Thursday morning alongside France’s Camille Chevalier and England’s Meghan MacLaren.
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