KATHMANDU: Bhuwan Nagarkoti and Dhana Bahadur Thapa shared lead after the first round of Surya Nepal Challenge at the par-68 Royal Nepal Golf Club on Tuesday. Bhuwan and Dhana carded three-under 65 on the first day of the second event of Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2016-17. Jayaram Shrestha is third at two-under 66 and Ram Krishna Shrestha and Sanjay Lama shared the fourth position at one-under 67.
Top pro Shiva Ram Shrestha is sixth at even-par 68, while Rame Magar and Pradeep Kumar Lama shared the seventh position at one-over 69. Deepak Magar, Chuda Bahadur Bhandari and Pashupati Sharma shared the ninth position with the score of two-over 70.
Gokarna Golf Club pro Bhuwan carded one-under 33 on the front nine and added two-under 32 on the back nine. He carded birdies on the first and second hole against a bogey on the third hole and saved pars on the next six holes to take the turn at 33. On the back nine, he carded birdies on the 10th, 13th and 18th holes against a bogey on the 11th hole.
Likewise, Army Club pro Dhana played two-under 32 on the front nine and carded one-under 33 on the back nine. He carded birdies on the first two holes and sank an eagle on the par-5 fourth hole. He faced a double bogey on the seventh hole. On the back nine, he carded birdies on the 13th and 16th holes and faced a bogey on the 18th hole.
Jayaram shot three-over 37 on the front nine before bouncing back on the back nine with a five-under 29. Jayaram suffered a double bogey on the fourth and a bogey on the eighth hole. On the back nine, Jayaram carded five birdies on the 10th, 14th, 15th, 17th and 18th holes. Ram Krishna played one-over 35 on the front nine and carded two-under 32 on the back nine, while Sanjay played two-under 32 and one-over 35 on the two halves. Top pro Shiva Ram carded three-under 31 on the front nine before playing three-over 37 on the back nine.
In amateur section, Santosh Rokka is at the top with three-over 71, while Mithun Rai is second at 72. Shiva Kumar Majhi is third at 73, ahead of Phuntsok N Lama (75), Jiwan Rai (76) and Rohit Acharya