KATHMANDU, APRIL 30

Lt Col Dinesh Baniya won the title of the Turkish Airlines World Golf Cup at the Gokarna Golf Club today.

Played under stableford 3/4 handicap format with maximum allowance of 24, Baniya accumulated 40 points to finish first in the qualifying tournament for the largest corporate tournament oganised by Turkish Airlines. The tournament is held at 85 venues in 57 countries and all the winners get opportunities to compete in the grand finale in Antalya.

Along with the title, Baniya earned berth in the Turkish Airlines World Golf Cup grand finale to be held at the Gloria Serenity Resort in Antalya in December. He won business-class air tickets to Turkey, stay at a seven-star facility in Antalya.

Baniya will also get the opportunity to play two practice rounds before taking part in the tournament.

Pradip KC finished second on count back after he was tied on 37 points with Chandra Kumar Limbu. KC scored 18 points on back nine, one more than Limbu, who came third. Top three golfers in nett category also received gold, silver and bronze trophies respectively.

Wangchen Dhondup won the gross section award with 36 points, while Sanjay Poudel and Kashmira Shah bagged the closest-to-thepin awards.

A total of 82 golfers took part in the tournament.

General Manager of Turkish Airlines Kathmandu Serkan Basar, Sales Manager Benazir Shrestha, Marketing Manager Archana Shrestha, Airport Manager Reshu Singh, President of Gokarna Golf Club Suhrid Ghimire and Captain Joseph Nathan handed over prizes to the winners.

The Nepal leg of the tournament was organised after two years. The tournament started in 2018 and was stopped after the second edition due to coronavirus.

Madhav Acharya and Babu Sherpa represented Nepal in the finals in Antalya as the winners of the 2018 and 2019 winners respectively.

A version of this article appears in the print on May 1, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.