KATHMANDU: SSP Rajendra Shrestha took the lead after the first day of the Ballantine’s Open Golf Tournament here at the Royal Nepal Golf Club on Friday.

Played under stableford 3/4 handicap format, the seven-handicap amateur golfer Shrestha accumulated 36 points to stay at the top of the leaderboard. Shrestha earned 18 points on either half.

Four players, Ang Tsering Sherpa, Ashish Man Sherchan,Purna Bahadur Rai and Roshan Rai were tied on second position 34 points. Kashmira Shah led the women’s section table with 35 points, while Rekha Ghimire was second with 34.

A total of 27 players played their rounds on Friday, while the remaining 60 golfers are scheduled to compete on Saturday.