Smriti "Simi" Mehra (born 21 May 1972) is the first woman from India to become a member of the world's leading golf tour for women, the US-based

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekl ...

. She is recognized as "a pioneer and a pillar for women's golf in India." She was born in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

, and attended

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...

before turning professional in 1994. Mehra won once on the second tier

Futures Tour The Epson Tour, previously known as the LPGA Futures Tour, and known for sponsorship reasons between 2006 and 2010 as the Duramed Futures Tour and between 2012 and 2021 as the Symetra Tour, is the official developmental golf tour of the LPGA Tour ...

in 1996 to win promotion to the main LPGA Tour, which she played from 1997–1999, and from 2001-2004. She underwent shoulder surgery in 2005 and played on the Futures Tour in 2006 in the hope of regaining her place at the top level. In October 2005, Mehra played LPGA Tour golfers

Heather Daly-Donofrio Heather Daly-Donofrio (born September 10, 1969) is an American professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour. Early life and amateur career Daly-Donofrio was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut. She attended Yale University and played on the Yale ...

Hilary Lunke Hilary Lunke (born Hilary Homeyer on June 7, 1979) is a retired American professional golfer best known for winning the 2003 U.S. Women's Open. Homeyer was born in Edina, Minnesota. She attended Stanford University and became a member of the LP ...

and

Celeste Troche Celeste Troche (pronounced "say-LESS-tay TROH-shay") (born 13 February 1981) is a Paraguayan professional golfer. Troche was born in Asunción. She attended Auburn University in the United States, and was a two time All-American. She was the c ...

in the first Women's Professional

Skins Game A skins game is a type of scoring for various sports. It has its origins in golf but has been adapted for disc golf, curling and bowling. Golf In golf, a skins event has players compete for prize money on each individual hole. Skins Game, PGA T ...

in India to demonstrate top level women's golf in her home country. In 2012, Mehra was named the "Player of the Year" at the Hero-WGAI awards function. She was credited with being part of the team that stabilised the women's pro tour. She played in all 15 events and won seven of them. In addition to her own athletic accomplishments, Mehra impacted the golf world by co-founding the Women's Golf Association of India in order to offer Indian women golfers the opportunity to make golf a career.

Personal

Mehra learned to play golf at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club, inspired by her mother, Billy, who had been a leading amateur golfer in Southeast Asia. Mehra spends her free time teaching disadvantaged children through the Golf Foundation of India.

Amateur wins

*1993 Malaysian National Championship *1994 Indian National Match Play Championship, Indian National Stroke Play Championship

Professional wins (4)

Futures Tour wins (3)

*1996 Green Mountain National FUTURES Golf Classic *2004 Frye Classic, Hunters Oak FUTURES Golf Classic

Ladies Asian Golf Tour wins (1)

*2003

Malaysia Ladies Open The Malaysia Ladies Open was a professional golf tournament in Malaysia on the Ladies Asian Golf Tour. History The first tournament was played in 1987. The last event was held in 2003, and women's professional golf did not return to Malaysia aga ...

Team appearances

Professional *

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

(representing India): 2008

References

External links

*
LPGA.com article about Mehra and Indian golf
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehra, Smriti Indian female golfers LPGA Tour golfers Golfers from West Bengal University of Calcutta alumni Sportspeople from Kolkata Sportswomen from Kolkata 1972 births Living people 20th-century Indian women