Gaurika, Tvesa walk down memory lane ahead of Hero Women's Indian Open

Ahead of this week's Hero Women's Indian Open, India's Gaurika Bishnoi and Tvesa Malik on Tuesday walked down memory lane, ruminating about the time when they would volunteer for the tournament, walk with the players and write down scores.

Gaurika and Tvesa, who finished Tied-13th at the last edition, were just kids, awestruck to see their idols play at the women's Indian Open, which began in 2007.

"I had just started playing golf around that (2007) time. Laura Davies (in 2010) would come and she would hold the clinic and we were just little kids who would be so excited to see our idols and volunteering for the Indian Open," said Gaurika, who is currently leading the Order of Merit after the 13th leg of Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour.

"It has definitely been a long journey from walking with the player, writing the scores to actually play in the event and doing well in it," added the Haryana golfer, who who had a top-15 finish at the last edition.

Tvesa said it is surreal to think that she is now a leading player competing at the prestigious tournament.

"I was definitely not playing golf 12 years ago, probably just starting out. But I do remember 6 years ago, I used to live in Bangalore and me and my sister flew down to volunteer for the Indian Open. I got to score some of the groups, walk around and got a lot of free golf balls from the top pros!" she said.

"So that was amazing and to think about the journey from volunteering and watching the pros play to now getting a chance to play myself feels almost surreal."