KATHMANDU, MARCH 16

Bhuwan Nagarkoti maintained the lead at the top of the leaderboard after the second round of the Surya Nepal Central Open at the Gokarna Golf Club today.

The reigning Nepal No 1 pro carded three-under-69 to add to his overnight 64 for the total of 11-under 133. After 36 holes, Nagarkoti opened up five strokes lead over Dharan pro Sukra Bahadur Rai, who carded second straight 69. Amateur golfer Subash Tamang was one shot further behind at third after the South Asian Games double gold medallist carded two-under 70 to remain in contention at five-under 139.

Nagarkoti, who carded a flawless 64 in the opening round, dropped a shot today when he faced a bogey on the second hole but he recovered with birdies on the third and sixth holes. He took the turn at even-par 36 after another bogey on the seventh hole. He began the back nine with a birdie but immediately dropped a shot. He finished the latter half at three-under 33 with birdies on the 12th, 14th and 17th holes.

Rai shot two-under 34 on the front nine with the help of birdies on the third and seventh holes. After taking the turn, Rai carded a birdie on the 12th before dropping the first shot of the day on the par-5 15th hole. He recovered that loss with a birdie on the 17th to finish the back nine at one-under 35.

Amateur Tamang carded one-under 35 on either half.

He carded a birdie on the fourth and went three-under saving shots on the 12th and 13th holes. But Tamang faced back-to-back bogeys on the 14th and 15th before carding his fourth birdie of the day on the 17th hole.

Sanjay Lama bounced back strongly on the second day carding four-under 68 and moved to fourth position at 141, while Rame Magar faltered to 74 that saw him go down to fifth at 142.

Rajendra Shrestha Pradhan and amateur Vijay Shrestha Einhaus also dropped down in the leaderboard and shared sixth position at even-par 144. Pradhan shot three-over 75, while Einhaus returned with 76.

Bal Bhadra Rai carded a 71 to climb the ladder to eighth position at one-over 145, while Rabi Khadka shot four-under 68 to enter into the top 10 sharing the ninth place at 146 with amateur golfers Tashi Tsering and Ajit BK. Tsering, who had carded 71 on the opening day, shot a three-over 75 today, while BK made a remarkable move after he carded one-under 71 to add to his overnight score of 75.

In all, 21 pros and eight amateur golfers survived the cut which was applied at 10- over 154. Amateur Sadbhav Acharya, the youngest golfer to take part in the Surya Nepal Golf Tour event, bounced back strongly to find his name for the last two rounds. The 14-year-old Acharya, who made a forgetful debut in the senior Tour, carded even-par 72 to make the cut by one stroke.

A total of 61 players took part in the season-opening event of Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2021. Out of the prize purse of Rs 735,000, top three pros will receive Rs 130,000, Rs 80,000 and Rs 60,000 respectively. Other pros in top 21 will also get their share of cash prize. A version of this article appears in the print on March 17, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.