The 2025-26 season of the Surya Nepal Golf Tour is set to start on Monday with the Surya Nepal Central Open.

The four-day event will mark the first of the eight tournaments of the tour. The Central Open will take place at Gokarna Forest Golf Resort, the Nepal Professional Golfers Association (NPGA), organisers of the tour, informed at a press meet on Saturday.

“The Central Open will carry a total purse of Rs1.05 million,” said Deepak Acharya, general secretary at the NPGA. “In total, the tour will carry a cash purse of Rs8.01 million.”

The NPGA has increased the total cash purse of the tour to Rs8.01 million from Rs6.73 million in the 2024-25 season.

“Meanwhile, only 18 of the top professionals in the Central Open will bag cash prizes, which is a decline from 21 top professionals claiming cash prizes last season,” Acharya said. The winner will get Rs170,000 while the runner-up will walk away with Rs125,000 and the third-placed golfer will receive Rs100,000.

The Central Open will be played over 72 holes, with a cut applied after the first two rounds (36 holes). The top 18 professionals will progress to the final 36 holes alongside the amateurs who survive the pro-cut.

“The Surya Nepal Golf Tour has reached a remarkable milestone in its 19th year, playing a vital role in strengthening Nepal’s competitive golf landscape,” said NPGA President Rabindra Man Shrestha as quoted in the press statement.

Similarly, the second event of the tour will reach Dharan on January 14 for a four-day Surya Nepal Eastern Open. Hosted by Dharan Golf Course, the Eastern Open also carries a total purse of Rs1.05 million.

Surya Nepal NPGA Tour Championship is the third tournament of the tour, which will also see cash prizes of Rs1.05 million being distributed to the top golfers. This event will be hosted by the Bardibas-based Army Golf Course.

The Army Golf Course in Bardibas was inaugurated in September last year after the Nepali Army’s lone golf facility in Kathmandu was demolished due to Tribhuvan International Airport expansion.

“Army’s Golf Course in Bardibas had requested to host an event of the tour last season as well,” Acharya informed. “We inspected it with experts, and as it was given a green light, the NPGA Tour Championship will be hosted there.”

The NPGA believes that the golf course in Bardibas added a new infrastructure for Nepali golf’s development.

Similarly, Royal Nepal Golf Club will host the fourth event of the tour—Surya Nepal Kathmandu Open, with a purse of Rs875,000—from February 10 to 13.

The tour will then reach the tourism city of Pokhara for the Surya Nepal Western Open, which also has a purse of Rs1.05 million, from March 4 to 7.

The Royal Nepal Golf Club in Kathmandu will then host two regular events, the Surya Nepal NPGA Match Play and the Surya Nepal Challenge from April 7 to 9 and May 5 to 8, respectively. While the NPGA Match Play has a purse of Rs425,000, the Surya Nepal Challenge has Rs710,000.

The final and biggest event of the tour, the Surya Nepal Premier Golf Championship will then be played at the Gokarna Forest Golf Resort from June 2 to 6. Here, the cash purse is the highest—Rs1.8 million.

“The tour is set to deliver another thrilling season, featuring top-class competition across some of Nepal’s finest golf courses,” the NPGA states.

According to the organisers, Niraj Tamang, Nepal’s current No 1 golfer, alongside amateur Rahul Bishwakarma, the defending champion, will be the players to watch. Bhuwan Nagarkoti, Toran Shahi, Dinesh Prajapati, Sanjay Lama and Rabi Khadka are listed as other top contenders for the tour.

Two other top Nepali golfers—Subash Tamang and Sadbhav Acharya—are expected to miss the majority of the events of the tour. “Tamang might not participate in the majority of the events due to his schedule with the PGTI and other reasons,” Acharya added. “Regarding Sadbhav, who has received a scholarship to play NCCA Division-I golf, he has been training in Florida recently.”

Acharya stressed that the two will be available for the final event, the Surya Nepal Premier Golf Championship, in June 2026.