Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, May 15:

Chuda Bahadur Bhandari won the Prince Basundhara Memorial Club Championship 2004 golf tournament, sponsored by Chinnalata Geet Puraskar Guthi, here at Royal Nepal Golf Course today. Bhandari, the five time winner since 1999, finished the day ahead of Group ‘A’ runner-up Ram Kumar Karki, who defeated Tashi Ghale in the semi-final. Bhandari had entered the final beating Raj Pradhan. RNGC president Siddheshwar Kumar Singh finished first in Group ‘B’, while Pradeep Bikram Rana came second. SSP Niraj Pun and Gopal Chitrakar were the other semi-finalists of Group ‘B’.

The tournament started on May 20 with 59 players taking part in the qualifying round, and 32 golfers advanced to the second round. The advancing golfers were divided into two groups of 16 each. Kishor Bahadur Singh, treasurer of Chinnalata Geet Puraskar Guthi and member secretary of National Sports Council, gave away the prizes to the winners. RNGC president Singh and captain of the club Deep B Basnet expressed their views on the occasion.

Rotarian Ghale wins KATHMANDU: Tashi Ghale, who finished the day at even par won the Rotarian category and Phintso Ongdi Lama, who scored 44 net points, took the non-Rotarian section titles at the first Nepal Golfing Fellowship of Rotarians Championship 2004 at the Gokarna Forest Golf Resort today.

Played at 3/4 handicap Stableford format, Kendra Bikram Shah, with 32 points, and Phintso Wanchen Dhondup, with 40 points, came second in the Rotarian and non-Rotarian sections respectively. Ritu Limbu (31) and Sonia Burman (25) came first and second respectively in ladies section. In the Senior section, Lobsang Tenzin defeated Maj Gopal Gurung on countback after they were tied at 35 points each. Tashi Ghale won the Best Gross, while Ang T Sherpa bagged the Longest Drive award. Maj Gyan Bahadur Gurung was the golfer closest to the pin, while Phintso Ongdi Lama won the most birdies award and Gopal Kaksapati lifted the Sportsmanship award. Sushil Gupta, Director of Rotary International, and NSC member secretary Kishor Bahadur Singh gave away the prizes.