Nanaimo's Shirin Anjarwalla Poised To Win Even More In 2015
December 16, 2014
by Alfie Lau, Inside Golf
With the 2014 B.C. Juvenile Girls’ Championship already in her possession, Nanaimo’s Shirin Anjarwalla has her eyes set on winning even more titles in 2015.
“I think I need to play more tournaments in 2015,” said the Grade 9 student. “I will be playing more CN Future Links events, the B.C. Women’s Amateur and more national events because my goal is to continue to earn merit points toward making Team Canada.”
Anjarwalla picked up the sport only six years ago, but she’s making up for lost time by continually practicing, even through the winter months.
“I’ll usually go to the range whenever I can and I’ll also try to play as much as I can,” said Anjarwalla.
She announced herself as a golfer to watch at the B.C. Juvenile Girls’ championship at Royalwood Golf Course by going wire-to-wire to claim the title.
Opening with a (-5) round of 68 on the par-73 track she then went another stroke lower on Day 2 to build a commanding four-stroke lead on Team Canada member Naomi Ko of Victoria. Anjarwalla would shoot a (-1) round on the final day to hold off a charging Ko by one stroke.
“I felt confident and it wasn’t like I was just trying to play for the win,” said Anjarwalla. “I wasn’t really worrying about my score, I wasn’t thinking about winning, I was just playing.
“I played really good, I think my first two rounds were the best I’ve ever played, so I was really proud of myself,” said Anjarwalla.
Anjarwalla was identified by British Columbia Golf as a player to attend their High Performance Camp at Northview in Surrey in October and Anjarwalla took advantage of the learning opportunities.
Anjarwalla took particular interest in the mental game clinics Coach Jody Jackson gave and the Nanaimo native also learned from one of her competitors.
“I love playing with Alisha Lau,” said Anjarwalla. “She’s a great golfer and she’s only 15. To see what she has done gives me an idea of what I have to do.”
And that means Anjarwalla has her eyes set on making Team Canada’s Development Squad, just like Lau did. “That’s why I think I need to play more tournaments and earn more merit points,” said Anjarwalla. Anjarwalla also added the gold medal in the girls’ golf competition at the B.C. Summer Games last summer.
“It was really fun and it was a good experience because I had to keep playing hard right until the final hole,” said Anjarwalla. “It was nice to win so close to home.”
Anjarwalla also got a taste of international competition when she played the Girls Junior America's Cup in late July at the Walla Walla Country Club in Washington State. “It was only the second time I’ve been to Washington State and I had so much fun playing and staying with my host family,” said Anjarwalla. “We came tied for fifth in the team competition and I was 11th in the individual competition and I learned so much there.”
Anjarwalla said her strengths include he long game and her mental game and currently she doesn’t have a full-time coach because her former coach, Isaac Weintraub, has embarked on the opportunity of a lifetime, securing a job on the grounds crew at Augusta National, home of The Masters.
Anjarwalla has worked a little with provincial coach Matt Cella, also based Mid-Island, but she’s keeping her options open going into 2015.
Anjarwalla’s parents Zahid and Tasneem are fully supportive of their daughter’s golf dreams and even though it means a lot of travelling from Vancouver Island so that Shirin can compete, that’s a sacrifice the family is willing to make.
“I’m looking forward to competing next year and playing as many tournaments as I can,” said Shirin.