Niraj Tamang plays a shot during the first round of the Surya Nepal Eastern Open on Tuesday. SANTOSH KAFLE
DHARAN, DECEMBER 27
Local pro Niraj Tamang opened the Surya Nepal Eastern Open campaign with five-under 65 here at the par-70 Dharan Golf Club course today.
The 13th South Asian Games team event gold medal winner, Tamang took one-stroke lead over fellow Dharan pro and Nepal No 1 Sukra Bahadur Rai and Sanjay Lama, who carded four-under 66 in the opening round of the second event under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2022-23.
Tamang made a flying start with five birdies on the first seven holes before dropping a shot on the eighth. He then completed the front nine with an eagle on the par-4 ninth hole as he took the turn at six-under 30. He headed towards a really low round after he carded three straight birdies from the 10th hole. But he crumbled and dropped shots on four holes - 13th, 14th, 17th and 18th - to finish the back nine at one-over 35.
Top pro Rai carded one-under 35 before taking the turn and played three-under 31 on the back nine. He had a poor start with two straight bogeys but Rai bounced back with birdies on the fifth, sixth and ninth holes. He then carded four birdies on the 10th, 13th, 15th and 18th and drooped a shot on the 14th hole.
Lama carded birdies on the second, fifth and sixth holes to take the turn at three-under 33. He then faced back-to-back bogeys on the 13th and 14th holes against three birdies on the 10th, 16th and 18th holes in his one-under 33.
Winner of the season-opening Surya Nepal Kathmandu Open, Bhuvan Nagarkoti was further one shot behind at 67. On a day when only four golfers broke the par, Jayaram Shrestha was fifth at 70. Amateur golfer Raj Kumar Rai was sixth at 71, whereas seven pros - Rabi Khadka, Ramesh Adhikari, Rame Magar, Surya Prasad Sharma, Tanka Bahadur Karki, Bal Bhadra Rai and Dinesh Prajapati - shared the seventh position at two-over 72.
Amateurs Rupendra Gurung and Yubraj Bhujel were tied for 14th with pro Dhana Bahadur Thapa and they were two strokes behind leader Raj Kumar Rai. Four pros - Dal Bahadur Rai, Tham Bahadur Rai, Deepak Acharya and Bhuwan Kumar Rokka - and amateurs Sukra Raj Rai and Suresh Tamang were tied for 17th position at four-over 74.
In all, 40 golfers - 29 pros and 11 amateurs - are taking part in the 54-hole competition organised by the Nepal PGA under the sponsorship of Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd.
Cut will be applied after the second round with top 21 pros and at least six amateurs making it to the final round. The event carries a cash purse of Rs 800,000 and top three pros will receive Rs 140,000, Rs 90,000 and Rs 67,000 respectively. Others in the top 21 will also get their share of cash prizes.
The tournament will conclude with the Pro-Am event on Friday.
A version of this article appears in the print on December 28, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
