Kathmandu, October 28

Col Bikash Shah won the title of the Laxmi Bank Open Golf Tournament here at the Gokarna Golf Club today.

The six-handicap amateur, Shah finished first on count back after he was tied on 38 points with Vijay Shrestha Einhaus. As both the golfers had scored 18 points on the front nine and 20 on the latter half, the winner was decided on the count of last six holes. Shah had scored 13 points on the last six holes, while Einhaus had 12.

Einhaus — who accumulated 37 gross points — chose to take the gross award as no golfer is eligible to take two major trophies under one-player-one-prize rule. Einhaus missed the Hole-in-One prize of Hyundai car by just 30 centimetres on par-3 Hole No 10 and claimed the closest-to-the-pin award.

After Einhaus chose to take the gross section trophy, Madhav Simkhada finished runner-up in nett section on count back after he was tied on 37 points with Surendra Phuyal. Simkhada scored 20 and 17 on two halves, while Phuyal earned 21 and 16. Phuyal, however, did not return empty handed as he claimed the special prize for donning Laxmi Bank colour dress in the tournament.

Pratima Sherpa lifted the women’s category trophy with 32 points, while Rekha Ghimire came second with 29. Likewise, Lobsang Tashi won the senior section trophy with 36 points, while Tashi Ghale bagged the guest section award with 35 points. Also, Shreeyog Basnet claimed the junior section title with 17 points.

Likewise, Capt Norbu Sherpa won the longest drive award, while Phuntshok N Lama claimed the most birdies trophy on count back after he was tied on five birdies with Tashi Tshiring and Tashi Ghale.

A total of 103 golfers took part in the tournament which was played under stableford 3/4 handicap format. CEO of Laxmi Bank Sudesh Khaling and Captain of Gokarna Golf Club Joseph Nathan handed over the prizes to the winners.