KATHMANDU, Jan 11: Bhuwan Nagarkoti and Dhana Bahadur Thapa share joint lead at the close of the first day of play in the Surya Nepal Challenge golf tournament at the par-68 Royal Nepal Golf Club in the capital on Tuesday.
Bhuwan and Dhana carded three-under 65 in the second event under Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2016-17 to take one-stroke lead over Jayaram Shrestha. Ram Krishna Shrestha and Sanjay Lama stand joint fourth at one-under 67.
Nepal number one pro Shiva Ram Shrestha is sixth at even-par 68. Rame Magar and Pradeep Kumar Lama share joint seventh position at one-over 69. Deepak Magar, Chuda Bahadur Bhandari and Pashupati Sharma are jointly on ninth position with two-over 70.
Bhuwan carded one-under 33 on the front nine with birdies on first and second holes against bogey on the following hole. After taking the turn, he finished with two-under 32.
He carded birdies on the 10th, 13th and 18th holes against lone bogey on the 11th hole.
Army Club pro Dhana finished the first half with two-under 32 and later half with one-under 33. He made impressive starts with birdies on the initial two holes and an eagle on the par-5 fourth hole. He however, squandered two shots on the par-4 seventh hole. On the later half, he made birdies on the 13th and 16th holes against a bogey on the last hole.
Three share lead on opening day
Shiva Ram carded three-under 31 on the front nine and three-over 37 on the back nine.
Santosh Rokka leads the amateur section with three-over 71. He carded even par 34 on the front nine and three-over 37 on the back nine. Mithun Rai is second at four-over 72. He played even-par on front nine and four-over 38 on back nine. Shiva Kumar Majhi is third at 73, ahead of Phuntsok N Lama (75), Jiwan Rai (76) and Rohit Acharya (76).
The tournament being played over 72 holes includes 29 professionals and 11 amateurs. Cut will be applied after 36 holes and top 21 pros and top six amateurs or those surviving the cut will make it to the final 36 holes.
