Surya Nepal Central Open,Amateur Rahul maintains lead after second round

KATHMANDU: Defending champion amateur golfer Rahul Bishwakarma maintained his lead after second round of Surya Nepal Central Open, first event under Surya Nepal Golf Tour, at the par-72 Gokarna Golf Club on Tuesday.

Rahul carded 5-under 67 on the second day for 36-hole total score of 11-under 133. He is seven strokes ahead of pro Bhuwan Kumar Rokka. Bhuwan also carded 5-under 67 in second round to move up to second place at 4-under 140. Pro Jayram Shrestha slipped one place down to third at 1-under 143 after he carded even-par 72, while former top pro Bhuvan Nagarkoti climbed up to fourth at 1-over 145 after a round of even-par 72.

Four players, Nepal No 1 pro Niraj Tamang, former top pro Sukra Bahadur Rai and Dinesh Prajapati are tied for fifth at 2-over 146 along with amateur golfer Reuben Thapa. Niraj carded 3-under 69 in the second round, Sukra fired 1-under 71 and Dinesh shot 1-over 73. Likewise, Reuben carded 2-under 70 on the second day.

Pros Rabi Khadka (71) and Pradip Kumar Lama (75) share eighth position at 4-over 148 along with Phuntsok Norbu Lama (75). A total of 18 pros and six amateur golfers made the cut that fell at 11-over 155.

Surya Prasad Sharma, Bal Bhadra Rai, Toran Bikram Shahi, Deepak Magar, Kishan Kaliraj Sunar, Dhana Bahadur Thapa, Tanka Bahadur Karki, Kumar Kami, Ramesh Adhikari and Rame Magar made the cut for final two rounds. They are joined by amateurs Sam Doublard, Tashi Tsering and Balram Poudel. Bhimsen Chaulagain, Sanjay Lama, Sabin Sapkota and amateur Wangchen Dhondup missed the cut on count back after they posted 11-over 154.

Leader Rahul took the turn at 3-under 33 after he carded five birdies on the second, third, fifth, seventh and ninth holes against bogeys on fourth and sixth holes. He added four more birdies on the 10th, 11th, 13th and 14th holes but he dropped shots on the 15th and 16th holes to end the back nine at 2-under 34.

Bhuwan carded four birdies on the first, third, fifth and eighth holes and dropped shots on the sixth and seventh holes to take the turn at 2-under 34. He carded bogey-free 3-under 33 on the back nine with the help of birdies on the 12th, 16th and 18th holes.

Third-placed Jayram carded a total of six birdies on the third, fourth, fifth, 10th, 17th and 18th birdies but he was undone by double bogeys on eighth and 15th holes and bogeys on the 11th and 16th holes. He took the turn at 1-under 35 and played 1-over 37 on the back nine.

The season-opening tournament offers a total prize purse of NPR 1,050,000, with the champion set to take home NPR 170,000. The runner-up will pocket NPR 125,000, the third-place finisher will earn NPR 100,000, fourth place will get NPR 82,000 and fifth place will get richer by NPR 72,000. Prize money will be distributed among the top 18 professionals.