Young golfer Sherpa over the moon
Young golfer Sherpa over the moon
Published: 10:35 am Apr 26, 2018
Kathmandu, April 25
Young Nepali golfer Pratima Sherpa was over the moon when she met former World No 1 pro Tiger Woods in Florida on Tuesday.
Sherpa, who is in the United States of America to attend the premier of the film - ‘A Mountain to Climb' prepared by ESPN about her and Royal Nepal Golf Club - in New York at the weekend, got a chance to meet her idol and also received lessons from him.
“I cannot express the happiness in words, it was like a dream come true for me,” Sherpa said after spending 30 minutes with at the Woods Medalist Golf Club in Jupiter. “First of all, I was stunned when he said ‘Hi Pratima' when we reached there. He knew a lot about me as he had watched the documentary. I was there to meet him and get some pictures with him,” added Sherpa, who won around 30 trophies last year apart from defending the title of the Faldo Series Nepal Championship.
“Inspiring day working with my @TGRFound team and meeting Pratima Sherpa, an amazing young woman from Nepal. We can all learn from her perseverance, hard work and determination,” Woods wrote on Twitter.
The ESPN team and her sponsors had invited Sherpa and her parents in the premier of the film but she was forced to travel alone after the American embassy in Kathmandu rejected visa to her father and mother. And meeting Woods was not in her schedule. A representative from Tiger Woods Foundation, who attended the premier, arranged the meeting after knowing Woods was her favourite player.
Sherpa - who wants to be the first women professional golfer of Nepal - was so excited to meet the 14-time major champion that she forgot to take golf shoes and other kits. “I was surprised when Woods took me to the ground behind the club, where he was scheduled to conduct a clinic, and handed me his club asking me to show my swing,” she said. “He gave me some lessons and corrected my posture apart from teaching about various shots and ways of tackling pressure situation and many more,” she said.
Woods then took Sherpa to the clinic and asked him to hit balls with his driver. “I hit a couple of balls with his driver and he also introduced me to the group gathered to attend the clinic,” she added. Woods advised her to work hard and said she had the potential to go ahead. “He told me that I had an amazing swing. He has asked me to keep the hard work and that he was excited to see my future,” said Sherpa.
Apart from posing with Woods, Sherpa presented him with the RNGC cap. “I had taken a new cap with me and I am extremely happy to get the chance to present that to Woods,” she said. Woods had sent a letter of encouragement to Sherpa last year after he was made aware of the young player. “That letter always inspires me to play well,” said Sherpa, the first Nepali woman golfer to participate in the Surya Nepal Golf Tour Qualifying School.