The icy-cold trip to Rovaneimi to the official Santa Claus residence in Finland figures high on the to-do list, but there is also some sharp competition that Delhi amateur Gauri Monga will be on the lookout for. The teenager, who had a spectacular last season on the domestic amateur tour, has been given an invite to Finland’s biggest golf tournament and the youngster has set her sights on making the most of the big chance. Monga will be one of seven amateurs from Asia to play at the August 28-30 Ladies European Tour Finnair Masters.

The tournament, to be played at Finland’s oldest course — the Helsinki Golf Club in Tali — is a 200,000-euro event that features some of the world’s top professional players. Monga has been feverish in her excitement, trying to look up anything she can about the country on the Internet.

“It’s going to be a great opportunity,” Monga told Sportline at the sidelines of a presentation of the airplane tickets and the tournament entry card.

“I’ve tried looking up the course map on the Internet, and also figure out just how cold it might get there,” she said. “Sorting out a new course is always fun, and a good challenge to gain experience.”

Luckily for her, the audience at the presentation included a recent golf tourist to the country, and there were ample nuggets exchanged. No, it won’t be very cold, she was assured. Monga doesn’t expect it to get very windy either, with the course being in the centre of the city, but the youngster would hope that she doesn’t get blown away by the big names that she would be surrounded by.

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