Harjai fifth at Ontario women’s amateur
Sukriti Harjai went into last week’s Ontario Women’s Amateur Golf Championship at the Dalewood Golf Club in Cobourg with high expectations.
“My goal was top five and for me my placing is not as important as playing well and playing well for myself,” the 20-year-old Niagara Falls resident said. “It is putting up good numbers and placement comes by itself. I try to focus on playing well and shooting as low as I can instead of focusing on if I am coming second or third.”
The Grand Niagara member did just that and ended up with a career-best, fifth-place finish at the amateur with a score of five over par (70, 76, 73 and 71), five shots behind winner Sydney Naro.
The scholarship golfer at the University of Victoria missed the cut at the Ontario amateur in 2019 after placing placed 17th in 2018, tying for 50th in 2017 and ending up 41st in 2016.
“It is definitely a good confidence boost for this year’s season,” the Saint Michael alumnus said. “We are going to be playing some tournaments for school and it good to have that mindset going in that I can play well.”
Harjai and the rest of the Ontario amateur field had to deal with difficult conditions early in the tournament, which included a three-hour rain delay on Day 1 that saw some players complete their rounds on the second day and strong winds on Day 2 that pushed the scores of most players in the field higher.
Harjai felt she had a solid tournament.
“Everything was going pretty well and my putting definitely helped a lot to save strokes,” she said. “My driving was consistent and the irons were OK but they could have been a lot better.”
Harjai is scheduled to return to school Sept. 2 and is looking to build on a strong sophomore season. Last season, she won the Vikes Shootout in October, the Northwest Christian University Golf Invitational in Oregon in October and the Oregon Institute of Technology Invitational in early March by seven strokes thanks to a final-round 69.
“I have definitely improved since first year. My coaches, John White and David Rands at the University of Victoria, have helped me a lot to get me where I am now.”
Her success is because of a number of factors.
“It is practise, having the right people to support me and the older I get, the stronger I get physically and mentally.”
Harjia didn’t win any tournaments in her freshman campaign in National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics play.
“In my first year, I was shooting in the 80s and not getting rid of those numbers and now I am hitting more in the 70s and have become a better overall player.”
She’s hoping to take the next step in her game this season.
“I have to keep practising and keep working out in the gym,” Harjai said. “When I go back to school, I am going to have a very set routine of practising and working out every day and it is going to help me get stronger and better.”
She is fuelled by the sport itself.
“It is my whole life,” the former Niagara Junior Golf Tour overall points champion said. “It has been my whole life since the age of four and it is everything to me.”
Other local golfers making the cut were: Bridgewater’s Madeline Marck-Sherk, tied for seventh at seven over par (68, 78, 73 and 73); Niagara Junior Golf Tour member Megan Miron tied for 11th at nine over par (69, 80, 73 and 72); St. Catharines native Judith Kyrinis tied for 26th overall at 15 over par (70, 78, 76 and 76) and tied for third in the mid-amateur division; and, Lookout Point’s Stefi Markvovich tied for 31st overall at 17 over par (75, 75, 77 and 75) and placed sixth in the mid-amateur division.
