Kathmandu, March 21

Hridesh Kumar Singh took the lead after the first round of Nepal Open Amateur Golf Championship here at the Gokarna Golf Club today.

Singh carded one-under 71 for one-stroke lead over Shiva Kumar Majhi and Tashi Dong, who each shot even-par 72.

Tashi Tsering was at the fourth position with the score of one-over 73. Sukra Bahadur Rai and Wangchen Dhondup shared the fourth position at two-over 74. Prithivi Malla was next at three-over 75, while Tanka Bahadur Karki, Tenzing Tsering and Tsendra Dorji of Bhutan were further behind at four-over 76.

Bangladeshi golfers Md Shah Alam and Md Somrat Sikdar were tied at five-over 77 along with Sundar Rai.

Singh shot three-under 33 on the front nine with the help of an eagle on the third hole and a birdie on the eight. On the back nine, he shot two-over 38. Singh carded birdies on the 11th and final holes, but dropped shots on the 12th and 17th apart from facing a double bogey on the 14th.

Majhi carded birdies on third, seventh and eighth holes against bogeys on first and sixth holes for one-under 35 on the front nine. On the back nine, he hit a lone birdie on the 10th hole against bogeys on 11th and 16th for one-over 37.

Dong scored one-under 35 on the front nine with the help of birdies on third and seventh against a bogey on the ninth hole. On the back nine, he saved pars on the first eight holes before facing a bogey on the last for one-over 37.

Tashi Tsering started with two straight bogeys before hitting back with birdies on third and eighth holes for even-par 36 on the front nine. On the second half, he made a double-bogey on the 12th hole and carded a birdie on the 15th hole for one-over 37.

In team event, Nepal B represented by Shiva Kumar Majhi (72) and Sukra Bahadur Rai (74) led the standing with the score of 146. Nepal A comprising Tanka Bahadur Kari (76) and Tenzing Tsering (76) were second at 152, while Bangladesh team of Md Shah Alam (77) and Md Shomrat Sikder (77) were third at 154.

A total of five teams — two from Nepal and Bhutan and one from Bangladesh are taking part in the team event that will be played over 36 holes.

The tournament is organised by Nepal Golf Association with the support of Mountain Sports Federation.