Kathmandu, March 18:

Top pro Deepak Acharya carded one-over 72 to take the first-day lead at the NPGA Classic Golf Tournament here at the Tribhuvan Army Officers’ Golf Club today.

At three-over 74, Sabin Sapkota was second and Rajan Thapa third with four-over 75. The golfers will move to Le Meridien Gokarna Forest Golf Resort and Spa for the next 18 holes on Monday, before wrapping up the 54-hole tournament at Royal Nepal Golf Club on Tuesday.

In all, 17 professional golfers are taking part in the tournament that carries the total purse of Rs 100,000 with the winner taking home Rs 25,000. The top 13 professional golfers will get cash prizes.

This is for the first time any golf event is organised in this format — played in 3 different courses.

This tournament — sponsored by Pilot Golfers — will give the local players much-needed exposure and will also help them in honing their skills for the forthcoming Surya Nepal Masters.

SCORES AFTER 18 HOLES:

72 - Deepak Acharya; 74 - Sabin Sapkota, 75 - Rajan Thapa, 77 - Deepak Thapa Magar, 78 - Radhe Shyam Thapa, 79 - CB Bhandari, Deepak Neupane, Ramesh Nagar-koti, Sanjay Lama, 83 - Sachin Bhattarai, 84 - Pashupati Sharma, 85- Ram Thapa, Sukra Raj Limbu, 87 - Mani Rai, Raju Pariyar, 93 - Bhimsen Karki, 94 - Suman Sapkota.