Kathmandu, April 3

Bhuwan Nagarkoti opened the Surya Nepal Kathmandu Open campaign with a round of three-under 65 here at the Royal Nepal Golf Club today.

The Gokarna Golf Club pro Nagarkoti was one shot ahead of defending champion Rame Magar, who carded two-under 66, in the eighth event of the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2017-18. RNGC head pro and elder bother of Rame Magar, Deepak Thapa was further one shot behind at third after he shot a 67.

Nagarkoti began the day with a birdie and added two more in the third and fifth holes to take the turn at three-under 31. He then went five-under with birdies on the 11th and 13th holes but he missed a par putt from five feet on the 16th and dropped another shot on the next hole.

Defending champion Magar took the turn at even-par 34 after he had two birdies and as many bogeys on the front nine. He then carded birdies on the 11th and 16th holes on the bogey-free back nine. Like Nagarkoti, Magar also made a desired start with a birdie on the first hole and added another in the fifth. But he faced bogeys on the seventh and ninth holes.

Veteran pro Thapa shot one-over 35 on the front nine before carding two-under 32 on the latter half. He dropped shots on the second, sixth and seventh holes against birdies on the fourth and ninth holes. He faced another bogey on the 11th hole before bouncing back with birdies on the 13th, 17th and 18th holes.

Top pro Shivaram Shrestha carded even-par 68 to share the fourth position with Bikash Adhikari, while Bhuwan Kumar Rokka and Jayaram Shrestha were tied for sixth at one-over 69 along with amateur golfer Tanka Bahadur Karki. Army Club pro Dhana Bahadur Thapa and former top pro Rabi Khadka shared the ninth position at two-over 70.

In amateur section, Surendra Phuyal was three strokes behind leader Karki after he shot four-over 72, while Binod Tamang, Sunil KC and Subash Ghising shared the third position at five-over 73.