Ten new pros joins Hero WPGT as a strong field arrives for the first Leg 1 in Mumbai

Saanvi Somu heads a strong list of new professionals for the calendar year 2026. The 10 new pros joining this year qualified through qualifier at Jaypee Wishtown and four came from the IGU Ladies OOM and WAGR.

The WGAI now has a record 62 registered pro players and it includes 14 new pros joining this year.

The event at BPGC has a host of new professionals who will play alongside some of the experienced stars signals the start of a new season on the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour 2026.

The opening leg of the Tour, which is now almost a decade and a half old, carries a purse of Rs.17 lakhs and will see a field led by Sneha Singh, a former Hero Order of Merit winner.

Of the total prize money of 2.5 crore for the year, Rs. 1.47 cr has already been distributed in the financial period from April 2025 to December 2025. The balance of 1.03 Cr will be distributed in the next six events till March 2026, the first of which is going to be held at BPGC from January 13.

The first six events will be held between January and March and the remaining nine events for 2026 will be held after that.

Sneha Singh, one of three multiple winners in 2025, will contest for the honours alongside Amandeep Drall, Ridhima Dilawari, Jasmine Shekar, Rhea Purvi Saravanan and Vidhatri Urs among others.

One of the stars to make a move from amateur ranks to professionals is Saanvi Somu, who has finished runner-up on as many as four occasions, and is still looking for a maiden win on the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour. The highly talented young golfer, Saanvi, has donned India colours on numerous occasions. Saanvi could well be the player to watch this season.

Apart from Sneha and Amandeep, who won more than once last year, the other winners from 2025 in the field are Jasmine Shekar, Ridhima Dilawari, Lavanya Jadon, Rhea Purvi Saravanan and Heena Kang.

Though some of the top Indians are skipping the opening week, the field is still very strong. Five of the top six from the 2025 Merit List will line up in the season's first event at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club. The 2025 season was a huge success and very lucrative for the players, as no less than nine players made more than Rs.10 lakhs in prize money. In addition, many of them also played the IGPL Tour, which has Women's Golf Association of India as one of its partners.

Four amateurs are also in the field and among the prominent ones is Zara Anand, who later this year, will join college golf in the United States. Kashika Mishra, Aradhana Manikandan and Thea Ajoomal are the other amateurs in the field.

Tee times for Round 1 of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour 2026 - Leg 1 at Bombay Presidency Golf Club, Mumbai:

1. 8:00 am: Anaggha Venkatesh, Rhea Jha;

2. 8:10 am: Khushi Khanijau, Geetika Ahuja;

3. 8:20 am: Oviya Reddi, Kashika Misra (A), Eti Chaudhary;

4. 8:30 am: Durga Nittur, Shweta Mansingh, Amandeep Drall;

5. 8:40 am: Riya Jadon, Ananya Datar, Ketaki Sood;

6. 8:50 am: Kriti Chowhan, Seher Atwal, Saanvi Somu;

7. 9:05 am: Gourabi Bhowmick, Ravjot K Dosanjh, Aradhana Manikandan (A);

8. 9:15 am: Vidhatri Urs, Lavanya Jadon, Shinjini Mukherjee;

9. 9:25 am: Yashita Raghav, Ananya Garg, Agrima Manral;

10. 9:35 am: Esther Lobo, Jasmine Shekar, Heena Kang;

11. 9:50 am: Disha Kavery, Jia Kochhar, Anahita Singh;

12. 10:00 am: Karishma Govind, Thea Ajoomal (A), Ridhima Dilawari;

13. 10:10 am: Sneha Singh, Jahanvi Bakshi, Zara Anand (A)

(An Excerpt from Agency)