Subash Tamang returned with back-to-back under-par card at the CMS Faldo Series Nepal Championship to extend his overall lead to nine strokes at the par-72 Gokarna Golf Course on Tuesday.

Tamang carded a brilliant six-under 66 to better his first round card of one-under 71 for a total of seven-under 137. Remarkably Tamang opened up a whopping nine-stroke lead over Surya Nepal Eastern Open champion Sukra Bahadur Rai, who carded an even-par 72. Sam Doublard carded three-under 69 in the second round for a total of four-over 148 and is overall third. 

Tamang’s only blemish in an otherwise flawless second round was a bogey on the par-5 15th hole. He carded an identical three-under 33 in each half. Tamang sank birdies on the second, third and fifth holes before turning back with more birdies on the 10th, 13th, 14th and 18th. Tamang leads the U-16 age-group category with Doublard a distant second, 11 strokes adrift at four-over 144. 

Doublard was the only other  golfer apart from Tamang to return with an under-par card. Doublard  carded three-under 33 on the front nine and even-par 36 on the back  nine. Doublard sank birdies on the first, third, sixth, seventh, 15th  and 18th against a double bogey on the par-4 fourth along with bogeys on the 11th and 16th hole. Binod Tamang shot back-to-back 76 for a total of eight-over 152 to stay third in the U-16 category. 

Rai failed to produce the kind of game that handed him a stunning Eastern Open title at the Nirvana County Club in Dharan on December 29. Rai had joined the current Nepal No 1 professional golfers Shivaram Shrestha and Rupak Acharya as the  golfers to clinch a pro title as amateurs. Rai still leads the U-21 category after shooting even-par 72 that left him at two-over 146. 

Rai carded two-over 38 on the front nine with a single birdie on the par-3 fifth against bogeys on the second, third and seventh. Rai recovered to two-under 34 on the back  nine after an eagle on the par-5 12th along with birdies on the 13th,  14th and 18th. His card was upset by a double bogey on the 11th and a  bogey on the 17th hole. Bipin Tamang was 14 strokes behind Rai at 160 after the golfer scored yet another eight-over 80 on Tuesday. One stroke further down in third was Suman Pariyar, who carded five-over 77.

Kashmira Shah leads the girls’ category at 32-over 176 after carding 15-over 87 in the second round on Tuesday. Prativa Rai is second with 34-over 178 after shooting 21-over 93 on Tuesday. And Juny Gurung was next in third at 189. A total of 17 golfers in U-16, seven in U-21 and three in girls’ categories are vying for tickets to the 13th Faldo Series Asia Grand Final to be hosted by Sir Nick Faldo at Laguna Lang Co in Danang, Vietnam, in March this year. Winners three age-group categories will represent Nepal in the Asia Final.