Adhikari earns share of lead with Thapa

Kathmandu, November 25

Veteran pro Deepak Thapa Magar shared the lead with fellow RNGC golfer Ramesh Adhikari after the second day of the Surya Nepal Golf Challenge here at the Royal Nepal Golf Club today.

Thapa carded two-under 65 to move atop with the two-under 142 total after 36 holes, while Adhikari shot second consecutive 66 to earn a share of the lead.

Thapa began the second round with a bogey before he bounced back with an eagle on the fourth. He then carded birdies on the fifth and seventh holes.

On the back nine, Thapa carded birdies on the 11th and 13th holes to go five-under for the day but he dropped shots on the 14th, 17th and 18th holes. Adhikari carded one-under 32 on the front nine with the help of birdies on the fourth and seventh against a bogey on the ninth.

He carded three more birdies on the 10th, 12th and 14th holes but he was undone by a bogey on the 13th and a double bogey on the 15th hole.

Bhuwan Nagarkoti, who produced a card of two-under 65, shared the third place with overnight joint leader Ramesh Nagarkoti (68) at one-under 133. Bhuwan carded two-under 31 on the front nine with the help of birdies on the third and fourth holes and played even-par 34 on the back nine.

Yelamber Singh Adhikari sank three eagles but he ended up with one-over 68 that put him at fifth with the score of even-par 134, while overnight joint leader Sabin Sapkota and defending champion Rabi Khadka (66) shared sixth position at 135.

Teaching Pro at Golfclub Dresden Elbflorenz in Germany, Sapkota shot three-over 70.

Nepal No 1 pro Shivaram Shrestha (70) was eighth at two-over 136, while Jayaram Shrestha (71) is next at 137 and Ram Krishna Shrestha (69) is 10th at 138.

The cut was applied at 12-over and 21 pros and an amateur made it to the final two rounds. Bal Bhadra Rai, Rame Magar, Sanjay Lama, Dhana Bahadur Thapa, Sachin Prasad Bhattarai, Dinesh Prajapati, Bikash Adhikari, Ashish Pariyar, Pashupati Sharma, Bikash Bogati and Pradeep Kumar Lama are the other pros who made the cut.

Out of seven amateur golfers, only Tanka Bahadur Karki made the cut. Karki shot four-over 71 for a total score of seven-over 141.

A total of 36 players, including 29 pros, took part in the second event under Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2015-16. The tournament carries a total purse of Rs 383,250.

Top three pros after the final round will receive Rs 70,000, Rs 44,000 and Rs 32,000 respectively. Other pros who survived the cut will also receive their share of cash prizes.