Surya Nepal Challenge tees off today at RNGC

Kathmandu, January 9

The Surya Nepal Challenge is beginning here at the Royal Nepal Golf Club from Tuesday.

A total of 40 players — 29 pros and 11 amateur golfers — will take part in the second event of the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2016-17, informed the organisers, Nepal Professional Golfers Association, in a release today.

The tournament will be played over 72 holes and the cut will be applied after the second round. Top 21 pros and six amateurs will make it to the final two rounds.

Out of the total cash purse of Rs 400,000, the top three pros will receive Rs 75,000, Rs 46,000 and Rs 31,500 respectively. Other pros who survive the cut will get their share of cash prizes.

“The playing condition of the course has been tweaked up for the tournament and most of the participants played a practice round on the course to acclimatise with the conditions,” said the NPGA.

Nepal No 1 pro Shivaram Shrestha, who won the season opener Surya Nepal Eastern Open in December last year, along with Bhuwan Nagarkoti, Rabi Khadka and Sanjay Lama are the main contenders for the title. Ramesh Adhikari is not in the field to defend the title as he is out of the country.

In amateur section, Shiva Kumar Majhi and Mithun Rai are among the players who will be fighting

for the trophy. Top amateurs Sukra Bahadur Rai, Tanka Bahadur Karki and Tenzing Tshiring are not available for the tournament as they are undergoing training in Bangladesh.

Nepal PGA President Rabindra Man Shrestha hoped for a fierce competition over the next four days. “The field seems good and I am looking forward to witness good performance from the professional as well as amateur golfers,” said Shrestha, who also thanked the sponsor of the Tour, Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd, “for its incessant support towards the development of the game,” he added.