My cell phone rang at 7:40 this Sunday morning. Who in the world -- -- could be calling at such an hour. I wiped the sleepy tears from my eyes and stared at the Caller ID to find out.
It was Rajiv Bal, father of Meghna Bal, calling from India.
"Hello Rajiv!" I answered cheerily...or at least as cheerily as it gets that early Sunday.
Said he, with a chuckle in his voice that spanned the globe: "Am I speaking with the coach of the ladies national champion of India?"
She had done it.
At the tender age of 17, Megs had just won the 90th All India Ladies Amateur Championship, India's most important ladies amateur title!
Playing in difficult conditions at the Delhi Golf Club in New Delhi, India, Meghna was seeded 3rd of 16 players after the 36-hole stroke play qualifier. In the ensuing four-day match play event, she batttled back from slow starts to win her first three 18-hole matches, going to the 17th or 18th hole in each. She then won the 36-hole final (3 and 2) and with it, the national championship of India.