Cards 65 to stay ahead of fellow national team golfer Tamang
KATHMANDU, JUNE 8
Amateur golfer Sadbhav Acharya carded second straight seven-under 65 to open up three-stroke lead over fellow national team member Subash Tamang after the third round of the Surya Nepal Premier Golf Championship here at the Gokarna Golf Club today.
Acharya - who shared the lead with Tamang after the second round - posted the 54-hole total of 16-under 200 to stay at the top of the leaderboard. Tamang slipped to second at 14-under 202 despite carding a five-under 67. The amateur duo will go into the final round with pro Neeraj Tamang, who faltered on the back nine before settling for a two-under 70 and remained third at eight-under 208.
The 16-year-old Acharya - who won the Surya Nepal Challenge for the maiden Surya Nepal Golf Tour title in April - bounced back on the latter half carding a bogey-free five-under 31 after taking the turn at two-under 34. He did card four birdies on the first, third, fifth and ninth holes but he also faced bogeys on the second and sixth. On the back nine, Acharya carded birdies on the 11th, 12th, 14th, 15th and 16th holes.
Nepal N0 1 amateur, Tamang carded four-under 32 on the front nine and played one-under 35 on the latter half. He carded a total of eight birdies but he went on to face three bogeys. He made a flying start with three birdies on the first four holes saving a par on the second and he added two more on the seventh and ninth. He faced the lone bogey of the front nine on the sixth hole. On the back nine, Tamang dropped shots on the 10th and 14th against birdies on the 12th, 16th and 18th holes.
Dharan pro Tamang took the turn at five-under 31 but he faltered on the back nine after dropping five shots in the stretch of three holes. He had a dream start carding four consecutive birdies and added another on the seventh.
Tamang carded birdies on the 11th and 12th holes to go level with amateur duo in the group at 13-under total. But Tamang fell behind on his own after he suffered a triple bogey eight on the 15th to add to bogeys on the 14th and 16th holes.
Defending champion and Nepal No 1 pro Sukra Bahadur Rai was fourth at seven-under 209 after he settled for one-under 71. He carded a total of five birdies on the first, fourth, ninth, 15th and 17th holes but faced four bogeys on the seventh, eighth, 11th and 13th holes.
Dinesh Prajapati and money-leader Bhuvan Nagarkoti were tied for fifth at five-under 211. Prajapati moved up to earn a share of the fifth place after a round of four-under 68, while Nagarkoti carded one-under 71.
Jayram Shrestha (72) was seventh at 213, while Purna Prasad Sharma carded six-under 66 to share the eighth position at four-under 214 with Shivaram Poudel (73).
Toran Bikram Shahi faltered to three-over 75 and he was at the 10th position with the total score of one-under 215. In the amateur section, Wangchen Dhondup (74) moved up to third after playing three-over 219 -tied with pro Tanka Bahadur Karki, who carded four-under 68 in the third round.
A total of 50 golfers – 41 pros and nine amateurs – are taking part in the flagship event of the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2022-23.
A version of this article appears in the print on June 9, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
