Kathmandu, April 17

Sanjay Lama opened the Surya Nepal NPGA Tour Championship campaign with an impressive round of six-under 66 here at the Gokarna Golf Club today.

Lama was ahead of two pros, Rajendra Shrestha Pradhan and Rabi Khadka, who shot three-under 69 each to share the second position. Bhu Bahadur Gurung was tied for fourth with two amateur golfers - defending champion Subash Tamang and winner of the previous event, Surya Nepal Challenge, Sadbhav Acharya - at two-under 70.

Lama, who has not been able to land a trophy since winning the Surya Nepal Western Open in 2019 for his fourth career title, carded four-under 32 on the front nine and played two-under 34 on the latter half. He carded birdies on the third, fourth, sixth and ninth holes on his way to playing a bogey-free front nine. He went six-under for the day with two straight birdies on the first two holes of the back nine before facing the lone bogey on the 14th hole.

Lama shot the seventh birdie of the day on the 16th and saved pars on the last two holes.

Shrestha Pradhan also carded four-under 32 on the front nine but he played one-over 37 on the latter half. In an eventful front nine, he carded four birdies on the first, fourth, fifth and sixth holes and sank an eagle on the par-5 third. Shrestha Pradhan faced bogeys on the second and ninth holes. After taking the turn, he suffered a double bogey on the 14th and carded a birdie on the next hole.

Former Nepal No 1 pro Khadka produced the best front-nine score of five-under 31 but he faltered to two-over 38 after taking the turn. Khadka made a scintillating start of the day with five consecutive birdies and he saved pars on four other holes.

Khadka dropped a shot on the 13th hole and suffered a triple bogey seven on the next. He bounced back with a birdie on the 15th and saved pars on the last three holes. Toran Bikram Shahi, who has been working in India for a long time as a teaching pro, carded one-under 71 and he was tied for fourth with three amateur golfers - Yubraj Bhujel, Tashi Tsering and Vijay Shrestha Einhaus. Shahi took the turn at one-over 37 before carding two-under 34 in the latter half. On a day when 10 golfers broke the par, two pros Bhuwan Kumar Rokka and Dinesh Prajapati shared the 11th position with amateur golfer Suresh Tamang at even-par 72.

In all, 39 players - 31 pros and eight amateur golfers - are taking part in the seventh event under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2022-23. Out of the total cash purse of Rs 800,000, top three pros will receive 140,000, Rs 90,000 and Rs 67,000 respectively.

A version of this article appears in the print on April 18, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.