POKHARA, APRIL 1
Top amateur golfer Subash Tamang registered an emphatic four-shot victory over pro Jayram Shrestha to win the Surya Nepal Western Open title here at the Himalayan Golf Course today.
The 13th South Asian Games double gold medallist, Tamang shot second consecutive one-over 69 to post the 54-hole total of even-par 204 and claimed his second major career title.
Tamang, the youngest winner in the Surya Nepal Golf Tour at the age of 16, had bagged the Surya Nepal Challenge title at Royal Nepal Golf Club in March 2019.
Nine months later, Tamang created history when he won the individual event gold medal and led Nepal to victory in team event in the SA Games at the Gokarna Golf Club. But Tamang had to wait nearly four years to bag another title. He rode on first round's two-under 66 to land his second major title.
Tamang began the final round with one-shot lead over pro Jayram Shrestha and he blew away the advantage with a bogey on the first hole.
Jayram could not take advantage out of it and fell two strokes behind instead after the completion of the front nine. By the time, Niraj Tamang - who started day six strokes off the pace - had come into contention with a three-under 33 on the front nine after Subash Tamang shot two-over 35 and Shrestha fired three-over 36.
The amateur golfer played cautiously on the back nine and carded one-under 34, while Jayram shot one-over 36 and Niraj faltered to fiveover 40. Subash faced a total of four bogeys against three birdies in the final round.
Shrestha, who had carded even-par 68 in the first two rounds, failed to keep the momentum going on the final day and faltered to fourover 72. Jayram, winner of the season-opener Surya Nepal Kathmandu Open, bagged the winner's amount of Rs 135,000 as Tamang was not eligible to take cash prize.
Veteran pro Rame Magar produced the best card of the round carding two-under 66 to earn a share of second place among pros with Niraj Tamang (70) and Dhana Bahadur Thapa (71) at seven-over 211. They received Rs 68,834 each. Sanjay Lama dropped to fifth among pros at 214 after he faltered to 73 and he earned Rs 45,000, while reigning Nepal No 1 Bhuwan Nagarkoti (73) came sixth at 215. Nagarkoti, who had two Hole-in-One feats including one in practice round, pocketed Rs 40,000.
Dinesh Prajapati, Rabi Khadka, Bal Bhadra Rai and local pro Bhu Bahadur Gurung finished in top 10 and they received Rs 36,000, Rs 33,000, Rs 31,000 and Rs 29,000 respectively.
Tamang made it a double as he lifted the amateur section title as well. He finished nine strokes ahead of local golfer Ajit BK, who played three-over 71 for the 54-hole total of nine-over 213. Suresh Tamag was third at 221.
In all, 39 golfers - 25 pros and 14 amateurs - participated in the fifth event under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2021-22. AIG of Nepal Police Hari Bahadur Pal, Nepal Golf Association President Tashi Ghale, Regional Manager of Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd Prakash KC and Director of Himalayan Golf Course Prakash KC handed over prizes to the winners. The tournament will conclude with Pro-Am event on Saturday.
A version of this article appears in the print on April 2, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
