Kathmandu, March 23

Tanka Bahadur Karki won the title of the eighth Nepal Amateur Open Golf Championship here at the Gokarna Golf Club today.

Karki carded one-under 71 for the total score of seven-under 209 to register a nine-stroke victory after overnight leader and defending champion Tashi Tshiring — who had carded a record-breaking nine-under 63 on Thursday — faltered to 12-over 84. Tshiring ended up as second runner-up on count back behind Prithvi Malla, who shot two-under 70 in the final round.

Karki, who was four strokes behind leader Tshiring, carded two-under 34 on the front nine and added one-over 37 on the latter half. He carded birdies on the second and third holes before taking the turn. He added another on the 12th before dropping shots on the 16th and 18th holes.

“I am very happy today as I was able to win the trophy and maintain the under-par scores in all three rounds,” said Karki, who had won Bhutan Open in September last year. Karki, who is yet to fully recover from a broken right arm, said winning at the home course was more pleasing than winning in Bhutan. “It’s been just a week I took out the plaster from the hand and doctors had suggested me to take rest. But I could not resist as Nepal Amateur Open is a big event and I wanted to win this title,” he added.

Malla played one-over 37 on the front nine before carding three-under 33 on the back nine. He dropped shots on the second, fifth, seventh and eighth holes against birdies on the third, fourth and ninth. After taking the turn, Malla carded birdies on the 11th, 12th and 15th holes.

Tshiring had a forgettable round. He shot five-over 41 on the front nine and played seven-over 43 on the latter half. He began the day with a bogey and added three more on the fourth, sixth and eighth. He faced a triple bogey on the seventh, while he had birdies on the third and ninth holes.

On the back nine, Tshiring faced bogeys on the 10th, 12th and 18th apart from a quadruple bogey on the 15th hole.

Similarly, Karki (68), Tshiring (63) and Malla (70) won trophies for producing best cards over the three rounds respectively.

In U-16 category, Subash Tamang won the title with the score of 25, while Binod Tamang came second at 231.

On Thursday, Nepal ‘A’ team of Karki and Sukra Bahadur Rai won the team event title with the score of 283, while Nepal ‘C’ comprising Yubraj Bhujel and Niraj Tamang came second at 312.

In a separate Inter-club competition held on the sidelines of championship, Ajit BK and Suresh Tamang of Himalayan Golf Course won the title with the score of 78 points. Played under stableford 3/4 handicap format, Dhaka’s Kurmitola Golf Club duo Mohammad Shahabuddin and Mohammad Sumon were runners-up with 75 points. Meanwhile, Nil Kumar Thapa of Golf Society UK won the Friendship Cup with the score of 30 points.

A total of 49 golfers, including two each from Bhutan and Bangladesh, took part in the championship organised by Nepal Golf Association under the sponsorship of Mountain Sports Federation. The event was promoted by Nepal Tourism Board, while Phiten was the sports recovery partner.

NGA President Tashi Ghale, vice-president Tilak Rai, General Secretary CB Bhandari, Treasurer Kishan Agrawal, and President of Kathmandu Golf Association Madan Rana among others handed over the prizes to the winners.