Pratima Sherpa has lived her entire life in a maintenance shed on the fourth hole of Royal Nepal Golf Club in Kathmandu, and is now the top-ranked female golfer in her country.
Pratima’s parents are laborers at Royal Nepal, each making $2.50 a day. Although the shed is far from spacious or luxurious, it does have one advantage: The proximity to the course gave Pratima all the exposure to the game she needed to begin playing at age 11.
One of the teaching professionals at Royal Nepal, Sachin Bhattarai, gave her free lessons, and a member donated golf clubs to get her started.
Today, she is a determined teenager with a warm smile, a killer swing and victories in seven of the nine tournaments she has entered this season. Her dream is to become Nepal’s first female tour pro.
The petite 18-year-old is the daughter of labourers who work on the nine-hole golf course, which lies at the end of the runway of Kathmandu’s international airport.
Golf is a sport usually associated with privilege, while Nepal is a country better known for its jagged Himalayan peaks than smooth golf greens.
