Pratima Sherpa, On Track To Become Nepal’s 1-in-30 Million Golfer

Her quest? Become Nepal’s first woman professional golfer.

Anybody who follows the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) knows that the tour is loaded with exceptional women from Asia countries. Consider the final leaderboard from last weekend’s Women’s PGA Championship. The top three finishers–Sung Hyun Park, So Yeon Ryu, and Nasa Hataoka–were joined by a number of Top Twenty finishers, including In-Kyung Kim, Jin Young Ko, Amy Yang, Hyo Joo Kim, Sansheng Feng, and Moriya Jutanugarn.

But here’s the thing. Those players aren’t distributed across Asia. They come primarily from South Korea, Japan, China, and Thailand. Never in the history of women’s golf has a pro player come from Nepal. And that’s what makes this story remarkable.

Golfing in Nepal (photo, Links Magazine)

That story begins with the game of golf in Nepal—a game played infrequently by the country’s 30 million people. Links Magazine estimates there are only about 700 golfers in the entire country, mostly men.

In Nepal, then, it’s a BIG story when a woman plays golf, especially if she wants to go pro.

Enter Pratima Sherpa. Tom Rinaldi and Kristen Lappas told Sherpa’s story recently in ESPN’s SC Featured documentary, “A Mountain to Climb.” It’s an inspiring story, too.

Sherpa, who’s only 18-years-old today, lives with her family in a maintenance shed on an iconic, century-old, golf course, Royal Nepal Golf Club. She fell in love with the game while watching others play, and began playing after her father carved a golf club made from a tree branch. Club members saw her playing, befriended her, and gave her a set to play. It was obvious to them that she had talent.

Tiger giving Sherpa a lesson (photo, GolfWRX)

Sherpa’s life changed substantially when she met an American, Oliver Horovitz, who was at Royal Nepal to write an article about the course. During the visit, Horovitz caddied for Sherpa during a 9-hole round. Convinced of her talent, he wrote about her in Golf Digest.

Tiger Woods read that article and so, too, did the Montano family of Ventura, CA. The Montano’s invited Sherpa to come to the U.S., stay with them, and work on her game. She accepted. And it was an important step in her quest to become a pro.

Back in Nepal, that quest kicked into high gear. Going pro in Nepal requires finishing in the top five at the national Q-school held annually at Royal Nepal. Playing on her home course was an advantage. Being the only woman in the field was not.

But gender didn’t represent the biggest obstacle. It was an unexpected consequence–playing on California’ s lush courses with well-managed, fast greens. Sherpa had trouble adjusting to Nepal’s slow, rain-soaked greens. Again and again, her putts fell short of the hole.

Sherpa’s Day 1 score–79–was the highest score she had posted in six months. It was a shock to a woman who had won over thirty tournaments by the time she had turned seventeen. That 79 landed her in 10^th place.

Things got a bit better on Days 2 and 3, but not enough for her to make the cut. Sherpa failed to finish in the top five.

But make no mistake about it: Sherpa’s story is far from over. She has talent. She has a dream. And, just as importantly, she has a boat-load of people pulling for her to become that 1-in-30 million golfer.

Watch ESPN’s documentary here: