October 12, 2025

Hitaashee Bakshi, with Stephen King as her favourite novelist but no spooky stories on the golf course, teed off smoothly at 6:30am at her home ground, the DLF Golf & Country Club in Gurugram. Starting her round like a calm practice session, she delivered an exciting, bogey-free 67, five under par, boosting her total to seven-under at the big $500,000 Hero Women’s Indian Open. Despite recently finishing a scary book titled "Dead Girls Don't Lie," the cheerful 21-year-old's mood was anything but scary. Her bubbly smile seemed to chase away any cloudy nerves. She admitted to some lucky moments, saying, "I did not expect some long putts to go in. At holes seven and eight, they were at least 40-footers." Hitaashee stayed focused and calm, not worried about occasional mistakes because "sooner or later you will be making bogeys here." Instead, she concentrated on making as many birdies as possible. Watching her sister Jahanvi, ranked 30th, also in the tournament, Hitaashee recalled their journey: "My mom was the one who pushed us to play golf when we were five and seven. I think she fell in love with the sport. Jahanvi and I are total opposites, she is the beauty and brains, the software engineer. I have never been good at studies so I’m glad that mom had this idea of us playing sports." Home comforts are just a 10-minute drive away from the golf course, and Hitaashee looked forward to enjoying "the magic of mom’s cooking" after a busy day. The delicious curries made by her mother, Sunita, kept her energy up during her European tour, where she played in ten tournaments this season. Meanwhile, Zara Anand, the local amateur, impressed too. Her mother, Gaurika, watched intently as Zara made a mini rollercoaster of birdie-double bogey-birdie, finishing the day at two-under for a total of six-under, just one stroke behind Hitaashee. Pranavi Urs climbed to five-under, tied for fourth place, while her cousin Vidhatri missed the cut, set at eight-over. The leaderboard after the second round showed Hitaashee Bakshi leading at -7, followed by Germany’s Verena Gimmy and India’s Zara Anand at -6. Chiara Tamburlini of Switzerland and Pranavi Urs stood at -5. Other notable Indian scores included Vani Kapoor at even par and both Avani Prashanth and Amandeep Drall tied for 14th place. With such fiery performances from these young Indian players, the Hero Women’s Indian Open is heating up nicely. Who will conquer the greens next? Stay tuned!

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Tags: Hitaashee bakshi, Hero women’s indian open, Golf, Indian golfers, Dlf g&cc, Zara anand,