Former Nepal number one pro Bhuvan Nagarkoti shattered the course record and extended the lead after the second round of the Surya Nepal Western Open, the fourth event under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2023-24, at the par-69 Himalayan Golf Course on Thursday.

Nagarkoti carded a bogey-free 7-under 62 to set a new course record breaking the previous mark of 6-under set by Shivaram Shrestha on his way to winning the title with record total of 9-under 201. Nagarkoti posted 10-under 128 and extended the lead to 11 strokes over former top pro Rabi Khadka and national team amateur Sadbhav Acharya. Khadka played 1-over 70 and Sadbhav played 3-over 72 to share the second position at 1-over 139.

Niraj Tamang is fourth at four-over 142 after he played 4-over 73, while Pradip Lama and Deepak Magar are tied for fifth at 6-over 144. Pradip carded even-par 69 and Deepak played 3-over 72. Four pros, Jayram Shrestha (68), Shivaram Poudel (71), Dal Bahadur Lama (72) and Bal Bhadra Rai (73), share the seventh position with amateur Sundar Rai (73) at 7-over 145.

Cut was applied at 14-over 152 with 21 pros and four amateurs making it to the final round. Professional golfers Bhu Bahadur Gurung, Bhuwan Kumar Rokka, Pashupati Sharma, Sanjay Lama, Dinesh Prajapati, Yubraj Bhujel, Tanka Bahadur Karki, Surya Prasad Sharma, Krishna Man Rajbahak, Rame Magar, Sanjeev Bahadur Nepali and Dhana Bahadur Thapa made the cut after 36 holes. In the amateur section, Prajwal Gurung and Suresh Tamang joined Sadbhav and Sundar for the final round.

Leader Nagarkoti carded 3-under 31 on the front nine and fired 4-under 31 on the back nine. He began the day with a birdie and added two more on the fourth and nine holes before taking the turn. On the back nine, Nagarkoti carded birdies on the 11th, 14th, 15th and 18th holes.

Khadka played 3-over 37 on the front nine before carding 2-under 33 on the back nine. He dropped shots on the sixth, seventh and ninth holes before the turn. On the back nine, Khadka carded birdies on the 10th, 12th and 14th holes and faced a bogey on the 13th hole.

Amateur Acharya saved pars on eight straight holes and faced a bogey on the ninth to take the turn at 1-over 35. He then suffered consecutive double bogeys on the 10th and 11th holes and dropped a shot on the 12th hole. But he recovered to 2-over 37 after carding three straight birdies on the 13th, 14th and 15th holes.

Amateur golfer Bharat Thapa Magar had second Hole-in-One on the second day of the tournament. Bharat, who had an ace on hole number four in the first round, repeated the feat on hole number seven on Thursday. Bidur Tamang also had the Hole-in-One on the fourth hole on Wednesday.