Sports
Lama takes first day honour
Sanjay Lama set the tone with one stroke lead over Bal Bhadra (Man) Rai and amateur Shiva Kumar Majhi in the first round of the Surya Nepal Eastern Open at the Nirvana Country Club Health and Golf Resort in DharanSanjay Lama set the tone with one stroke lead over Bal Bhadra (Man) Rai and amateur Shiva Kumar Majhi in the first round of the Surya Nepal Eastern Open at the Nirvana Country Club Health and Golf Resort in Dharan on Wednesday.
Lama carded three-under 67 at the par-70 course. One shot behind the leader were Rai and Majhi who shot two-under 68 in the third event of the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2015-16. The Central Open champion Lama shot five-under 30 in the front nine that included two eagles on par-5s third and sixth and a birdie on the eighth hole. His back nine card of two-0ver 37 included two bogeys.
Rai had a disastrous front nine card of three-over 38 where he dropped four shots against a lone birdie on the par-5 sixth hole. However, the local pro from Dharan made a tremendous recovery in the back nine, sinking three birdies and an eagle in a flawless five-under 30. Majhi played relatively a consistent round shooting even-par 35 in the front nine and two-under 35 in the back nine holes.
Top-ranked golfer Shivaram Shrestha, Bhuwan Nagarkoti and amateur Sukra Bahadur Rai were tied for fourth at one-under 69. Tham Bahadur Rai and Dhana Thapa were tied at seventh after carding even-par 70. Purna Sharma and Rabi Khadka were tied at 10th with the score of one-over 71.
Nepal No 1 Shrestha shot even-par 35 in the first nine holes where he earned two shots against the equal number of bogeys. He was undone by a double bogey on the 14th hole despite sinking three birdies in his last nine card of one-under 34. Nagarkoti shot one-under 34 in the front nine and even-par 35 in the back nine. Amateur golfer Sukra carded two-under 33 in his first nine before completing his round with one-over 36.
The highlight of the day was that two golfers, Rame Magar and Ramesh Adhikari, made hole-in-one. While Magar achieved the feat on par-3 eighth hole Adhikari made it in another par-3 ninth hole. In all, 50 golfers—27 professionals and 23 amateurs—are taking part in the tournament organised by Nepal Professional Golfers Association. Cut will be applied after the second round with top 21 pros and amateurs making it to the final round. Top three pros will receive Rs 100,000, Rs 63,000 and Rs 45,000 respectively. Other pros making the cut are also assured of cash rewards.