KATHMANDU, JUNE 6

Nepal No 1 amateur golfer Subash Tamang carded a scintillating nine-under 63 in the opening round of the Surya Nepal Premier Golf Championship here at the Gokarna Golf Club today.

He was five strokes ahead of Toran Bikram Shahi after the veteran pro carded four-under 68 in the eighth and final event under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2022- 23. Jayram Shrestha and Shivaram Poudel were tied for third at three-under 69, while another amateur golfer Sadbhav Acharya was fifth at two-under 70.

Tamang made a flying start carding three straight birdies and added another on the fifth hole. He faced a bogey on the par-3 eighth before carding his fifth birdie of the day on the ninth and took the turn at four-under 32. He kept the momentum going on the back nine on his way to carding a five-under 31. Tamang carded birdies on the 10th, 12th and 14th and sank an eagle on the par-5 11th hole.

Shahi, who was playing just the second event of the season after returning from India, carded two-under 34 on either half, despite hitting shank on three occasions.

He recovered from the firsthole bogey and carded three birdies on the third, seventh and ninth holes. On the bogey-free back nine, Shahi carded birdies on the 12th and 16th holes.

Jayram Shrestha carded five birdies on the first, fifth, seventh, 11th and 13th holes, while he faced one each bogey on either half.

He took the turn at two-under 34 before playingone-under 35 on the back nine. Poudel made a promising start carding birdies on the first, second and fifth holes to take the turn at three-under 33. He then carded a birdie on the 11th and dropped a shot on the 17th for even-par 36 on the back nine.

Young amateur Acharya recovered well on the back nine carding three-under 33 after taking the turn at oneover 37. After saving pars on six straight holes, Acharya carded a birdie on the seventh but he suffered a double-bogey five on the eighth.

On the back nine, Acharya carded four birdies on the 11th, 12th, 15th and 18th holes and he dropped a shot on the 14th.

Defending champion and Nepal No 1 pro Sukra Bahadur Rai shared the sixth place with Krishna Man Rajbahak and Dinesh Prajapati at one-under 71. On a day when nine players broke the par, five pros - Surya Prasad Sharma, Bhuvan Nagarkoti, Dal Bahadur Lama, Rabi Khadka and Rajendra Thapa Magar - shared the ninth place at even-par 72.

A total of 41 pros and nine amateurs are taking part in the flagship event of the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2022- 23. Top 21 pros and at least six amateur players will make the cut after the second round. The biggest event of the season carries a purse of Rs 1.52 million. Top three pros will receive Rs 270,000, Rs 170,000 and Rs 120,000 respectively.

A version of this article appears in the print on June 7, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.