Kathmandu, March 29
Dhana Bahadur Thapa moved eight places up to open up one-stroke lead after second round of the Surya Nepal Challenge here at the Royal Nepal Golf Club today.
Thapa sank two eagles on his way to carding four-64 for 36-hole total of three-under 133 in the sixth event under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2022-23. The Nepali Army pro, Thapa was onestroke ahead of Bhuwan Kumar Rokka and Rabi Khadka.
Rokka carded one-under 67, while overnight leader Khadka played three-over 71 on his home course.
Thapa shot one-under 31 on the front nine before carding three-under 31 on the latter half. He began the round with an eagle but he dropped three shots on two holes - bogey on second and double bogey on fifth.
Thapa recovered well with birdies on the seventh and ninth holes. He did not do mistakes on the back nine as Thapa sank an eagle on the 10th and carded a birdie on the 17th hole.
Rokka also had an eventful front nine where he carded two-under 32. He started the day with a birdie before dropping two shots in the third hole. He then sank an eagle on the fourth and carded a birdie on the next.
Rokka carded a birdie on the 10th but suffered the second double bogey of the day on 17th hole that forced him to finish the back nine at oneover 35.
Overnight leader Khadkafaltered to four-over 38 on the back nine after he took the turn at one-under 33. He began where Khadka had left the opening day with three birdies on first four holes but he dropped shots on third and ninth holes. After taking the turn, Khadka sank an eagle on 10th but he dropped one shot each on 11th, 12th and 18th and faced a triple bogey eight on the 13th hole.
Amateur golfers Sadbhav Acharya and Subash Tamang were tied for fourth at one-under 135 with pros Deepak Thapa Magar and Dinesh Prajapati. Acharya moved up after he carded two-under 66 with the help of three birdies and a bogey, while Tamang played evenpar 68. Veteran Thapa Magar and Prajapati shot 69 and 71 respectively. Defending champion Bhuvan Nagarkoti played two-over 70 to slip down to eighth at even-par 136, while amateur Yubraj Bhujel (71) and pro Shivaram Poudel (71) were tied for ninth at four-over 140.
A total of 21 pros and six amateurs survived the cut which fell at 15-over 151.
The event - organised by Professional Golfers Association Nepal under the sponsorship of Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd - carries a cash purse of Rs 545,000. Top three pros will receive Rs 100,000, Rs 65,000 and Rs 46,000 respectively.
A version of this article appears in the print on March 30, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
