Ajaya B Shah claimed the first of the three-tournament Carlsberg Golf Series at the Gokarna Golf Course on Saturday.

Played on a stableford format with 3/4 handicap allowance, Shah scored 43 nett points to win the first tournament of the series. Shyam Simkhada ended up in second with 41 nett points. The winners received 100 points for the victory and the runners-up earned 70 points.

Points are awarded according to the position golfers finishes in a tournament. A golfer with the highest number of nett points after three tournaments of the series will be the overall champion.

The champion will get an opportunity to represent Nepal in the amateur tournament of the Carlsberg Malaysian Open in November.

Prithvi Malla finished as the gross winner with 35 points, just a point ahead of Tashi Tshring. Hye Min won the ladies title with 35 points ahead of Kashmira Shah won scored 34 points.

Bijay Bahadur Shrestha claimed the senior category—aged 60 and above—on the count back after tying on 37 points with Cheol Ho Kim. Mithun Rai won the most birdies with three 3.

Rai also sank an eagle. Surendra Phuyal claimed the longest drive and Jigmay Dongstetsang the closest-to-the-pin award. In all 96 golfers took part in the tournament. Senior Golf Director of Gokarna Forest Resort Deepak Acharya said: “The Series is an excellent platform for competitive golf for amateur golfers.”