Surya Nepal Central Open tees off, Toran Shahi takes lead on Day-I

KATHMANDU: Toran Bikram Shahi took lead after the first round of the Surya Nepal Central Open, the first event under Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2024-25, at the par-72 Gokarna Golf Club today.

Toran carded 5-under 67 on the first day to remain at the top of the leaderboard. He is one stroke ahead of Nepal No 1 pro Bhuvan Nagarkoti and Sunil KC. Bhuvan and Sunil carded 4-under 68 each. Krishna Man Rajbahak is fourth at 3-under 69, whereas amateur Rahul BK is fifth after he carded 2-under 70.

Bhuwan Kumar Rokka and Rajendra Shrestha Pradhan share the sixth position at 1-under 71, while five pros, Niraj Tamang, Dhana Bahadur Thapa, Ramesh Adhikari, Rajendra Thapa Magar and Pradip Kumar Lama are tied for eighth at even-par 72. Vijay Shrestha Einhaus is second among amateurs with the score of 1-over 73, and he is three strokes behind leader Rahul. Defending champion, Nepal No 1 amateur golfer Sadbhav Acharya is third after he played 2-over 74.

First-round leader Toran took the turn at 3-under 33 and he carded 2-under 34 on the back nine. On the bogey-free front nine, Toran carded birdies on the third, seventh and ninth holes. He dropped a shot on the 10th hole before carding three birdies on the 12th, 13th and 15th holes.

Bhuvan carded bogey-free 3-under 33 on the front nine with the help of birdies on the first, third and seventh hole. He carded 1-under 35 on the back nine. Bhuvan dropped shots on the 14th and 18thholes against three birdies n the 10th, 16th and 17thholes.

Sunil bounced back on the back nine carding 5-under 31 after he took the turn at 1-over 37. He faced two straight bogeys on the fifth and sixth holes before carding his first birdie of the day on the seventh hole. After taking the turn, Sunil carded four consecutive birdies on the 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th holes before adding the fifth birdie on the 18th hole.

Amateur section leader, Rahul played even-par 36 on the front nine and carded 2-under 34 on the back nine. He dropped a shot on the second hole and carded birdies on the third, 11th and 15thholes. Defending champion Sadbhav faltered to 4-over 40 on the front nine before recovering to 2-under 34 on the back nine.

A total of 47 golfers – 34 pros and 13 amateurs – are taking part in the season-opening tournament. Cut will be applied after the second round with top 21 pros and amateurs making it to the final two days. Top three pros will receive Rs 150,000, Rs 100,000 and Rs 75,000 respectively, while other pros in top 21 will get their share of cash prizes.