India to Indiana - Hunar Mittal's Path to Fort Wayne
6/22/2026 9:56:00 AM | Women's Golf
During a particularly hot round of golf in Northeast Indiana, Hunar Mittal reached for her water bottle and realized it was empty.
Her first instinct was to look around for her dad to ask him to run off to fill it up, as she had done since she started playing golf at four years old.
But he was nowhere to be seen. He was back in Panchkula, India, Mittal's hometown, a quick 24-hour adventure away.
Despite the long journey separating the two, Mittal now knows that her golf career would not have even gotten started, nor flourished, without her dad's influence.
The 2025 Horizon League First Team selection has nearly 18 years of golf experience under her belt now, but her golf journey started because she was too young to start other sports.
At age 4, Mittal was told she was "too small" to participate in tennis and basketball. Still determined to find a way to get her involved, Mittal's dad saw a newspaper clipping with a girl holding a golf trophy. He had not considered golf before, but saw it as the perfect opportunity.
After picking up some clubs and heading to a golf camp, Mittal's golfing career began.
"I remember my parents telling me that they used to have to bribe me," Mittal said. "Like they'll get me McDonald's if I play four holes, stuff like that."
No bribery necessary anymore. Now, it's Mittal's dream to keep the sport as a part of her life, with aspirations to play in the Olympics and on the LPGA Tour.
"People probably think that I'm delusional thinking that I want to play at that level," Mittal said. "But golf is a game that you can play for a long time, and I still believe that my time will come and I can achieve that dream, even though it's going to take some time and I've got to keep working hard."
The seed of the dream would not have been planted without the dedication from Mittal's family, a mainstay in Indian culture.
"Family in India, you stay together for most of your life," Mittal said. "Golf is much more individualized."
Despite her sport being so focused on the individual, for Mittal, it turned into a "family thing" that resulted in traveling across the world.
With no option for college golf in India, the goal was finding a home in the States instead of turning pro after high school. Long before Purdue Fort Wayne became that home, Mittal's family was visiting other countries to watch her compete in tournaments. Through her competitions, Mittal has been to nine countries: Canada, Italy, Switzerland, Scotland, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, along with her home country of India and current home in the United States.
"Obviously when you're small, you want to travel and go on vacation," Mittal said, "So I feel like golf was kind of a motive for vacation at that time."
Eventually, Mittal worked with an agent to get recruited to play golf at Purdue Fort Wayne, where she has excelled. She owns the fifth-best career scoring average entering her senior season, and became the first Mastodon in program history to be named to an All-League First Team.
This summer, Mittal has been working with First Tee Indiana, a program designed to give children the chance to learn golf and develop interpersonal skills on the course.
"Watching them made me realize that golf is something that's been with me my entire life and is a part of my identity now," Mittal said.
It also makes her even more grateful for the time and energy that her parents poured into her.
"When you're 4 or 5, you don't really care about anything," Mittal said. "But watching the parents stand out there for hours with their kids and helping them out made me realize how grateful I am for my parents to always be there, pushing me to be better for me to be able to be here today."
At the core of her experiences in golf, it always comes back to family and how they are helping her pursue her dreams. When Mittal returns to campus in the fall, she will look to make that next push towards turning her dreams into reality. She will do so with a mentality fit for the highest achievers.
"If you're in a slump or if there are days you feel like you can't do it and your dreams are blurry, take a deep breath, restart and keep believing," Mittal said. "If you give up on your dream now, you will regret it if you didn't try harder. And what if your next step you took was the one that got you to your goal?
"Keep working hard and going after the dream."
Her first instinct was to look around for her dad to ask him to run off to fill it up, as she had done since she started playing golf at four years old.
But he was nowhere to be seen. He was back in Panchkula, India, Mittal's hometown, a quick 24-hour adventure away.
Despite the long journey separating the two, Mittal now knows that her golf career would not have even gotten started, nor flourished, without her dad's influence.
The 2025 Horizon League First Team selection has nearly 18 years of golf experience under her belt now, but her golf journey started because she was too young to start other sports.
At age 4, Mittal was told she was "too small" to participate in tennis and basketball. Still determined to find a way to get her involved, Mittal's dad saw a newspaper clipping with a girl holding a golf trophy. He had not considered golf before, but saw it as the perfect opportunity.
After picking up some clubs and heading to a golf camp, Mittal's golfing career began.
"I remember my parents telling me that they used to have to bribe me," Mittal said. "Like they'll get me McDonald's if I play four holes, stuff like that."
No bribery necessary anymore. Now, it's Mittal's dream to keep the sport as a part of her life, with aspirations to play in the Olympics and on the LPGA Tour.
"People probably think that I'm delusional thinking that I want to play at that level," Mittal said. "But golf is a game that you can play for a long time, and I still believe that my time will come and I can achieve that dream, even though it's going to take some time and I've got to keep working hard."
The seed of the dream would not have been planted without the dedication from Mittal's family, a mainstay in Indian culture.
"Family in India, you stay together for most of your life," Mittal said. "Golf is much more individualized."
Despite her sport being so focused on the individual, for Mittal, it turned into a "family thing" that resulted in traveling across the world.
With no option for college golf in India, the goal was finding a home in the States instead of turning pro after high school. Long before Purdue Fort Wayne became that home, Mittal's family was visiting other countries to watch her compete in tournaments. Through her competitions, Mittal has been to nine countries: Canada, Italy, Switzerland, Scotland, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, along with her home country of India and current home in the United States.
"Obviously when you're small, you want to travel and go on vacation," Mittal said, "So I feel like golf was kind of a motive for vacation at that time."
Eventually, Mittal worked with an agent to get recruited to play golf at Purdue Fort Wayne, where she has excelled. She owns the fifth-best career scoring average entering her senior season, and became the first Mastodon in program history to be named to an All-League First Team.
This summer, Mittal has been working with First Tee Indiana, a program designed to give children the chance to learn golf and develop interpersonal skills on the course.
"Watching them made me realize that golf is something that's been with me my entire life and is a part of my identity now," Mittal said.
It also makes her even more grateful for the time and energy that her parents poured into her.
"When you're 4 or 5, you don't really care about anything," Mittal said. "But watching the parents stand out there for hours with their kids and helping them out made me realize how grateful I am for my parents to always be there, pushing me to be better for me to be able to be here today."
At the core of her experiences in golf, it always comes back to family and how they are helping her pursue her dreams. When Mittal returns to campus in the fall, she will look to make that next push towards turning her dreams into reality. She will do so with a mentality fit for the highest achievers.
"If you're in a slump or if there are days you feel like you can't do it and your dreams are blurry, take a deep breath, restart and keep believing," Mittal said. "If you give up on your dream now, you will regret it if you didn't try harder. And what if your next step you took was the one that got you to your goal?
"Keep working hard and going after the dream."
~ Feel the Rumble ~
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