Kathmandu, January 10

Bhuwan Nagarkoti of Gokarna Golf Club shared the first round lead with Dhana Thapa of Army Golf Club on the first day of the Surya Nepal Challenge here at the Royal Nepal Golf Club today.

The duo carded three-under 65 at the RNGC course which was upgraded to 68 par recently. Nagarkoti took the turn at one-under 33 that included birdies on the first two holes and a bogey on the next. Nagarkoti began the second half with a birdie and dropped a shot on the next  hole before earning birdies on the 13th and 18 holes to finish the back nine at two-under 32.

Army Club pro Thapa began the day with two straight birdies and went four-under with an eagle on the fourth but he dropped two shots on the seventh to take the turn at two-under 32. Thapa carded birdies on the 13th and 16th holes and was on the way to becoming a sole leader before he dropped a shot on the final hole to finish the back nine at one-under 33.

Jayaram Shrestha bounced back strongly on the back nine firing a five-under 29 to stay at the third position with two-under 66. Shrestha took the turn at three-over 37 before carding five birdies on the bogey-free back nine. Ram Krishna Shrestha and Sanjay Lama were tied for fourth at one-under 67.

Top pro Shivaram Shrestha took the turn at three-under 31, the best card of the front nine, but he faltered on the latter half shooting three-over 37 to stay at the sixth position with the score of even-par 68. Fellow RNGC pro Rame Magar and Pradeep Kumar Lama shared the seventh position at one-over 69, while Deepak Magar, Chuda Bahadur Bhandari and Pashupati Sharma were tied for ninth at two-over 70.

In amateur section, Santosh Rokka carded three-over 71 to take one-stroke lead over Mithun Rai. Shiva Kumar Majhi was third at 73, followed by Phuntsok N Lama (75), Jiwan Rai (76) and Rohit Acharya (76).

A total of 40 players — 29 pros and 11 amateurs — are taking part in the second event under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2016-17. Top 21 pros and six amateurs will make it to the final two rounds after the second day’s cut. The event carries a cash purse of Rs 400,000 and the top three pros will receive Rs 75,000, Rs 46,000 and Rs 31,500 respectively.