Acharya & Co claim Premier Pro-Am title

The Surya Nepal Premier Golf Championship Pro-Am title winning team members with Managing Director of Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd Abhimanyu Poddar (centre) in Kathmandu on Friday, May 17, 2019. Photo: Naresh Krishna Shrestha/THT

Kathmandu, May 17

Pro Deepak Acharya and his team of amateurs Sadbhav Acharya, Hridesh Kumar Singh and Kalsang L Sherpa won the Pro-Am title of the Surya Nepal Premier Golf Championship here at the Gokarna Golf Club today.

The team finished first with the total score of 166 points. Pro Acharya scored 39 points, while his 12-year-old son Sadbhav played a round of two-over 74 gross on his way to earning 45 points. Other two amateurs in the team, Singh scored 43 points and Sherpa earned 39.

Pro Sachin Bhattarai and amateurs Kashmira Shah, Tendi Sherpa and Rabindra Tiwari came second with the team total of 149 points. Bhattarai and Shah scored 38 points each, while Sherpa and Tiwari earned 37 and 36 points respectively. The team of pro Tashi Ghale (38) and amateurs Bharat Bastakoti (35), Madan Rana (34) and Hemant Thapa (34) came third with the score of 141 points.

Kashmira Shah, who scored 38 points, won the best individual score award in women’s section, while Wangchen Dhondup and Tulasi Bhatta won the longest drive and closest-to-the-pin awards respectively.

Top pro of the day was automatically drawn with three best amateurs to decide the winning team, while second best pro was teamed up with fourth, fifth and sixth amateurs for the runner-up team. Likewise, third-placed pro and amateurs finishing from seventh to ninth positions formed the second runner-up team.

A total of 97 golfers —25 pros and 72 amateurs — participated in the event played under the stableford 3/4 handicap format. Managing Director of Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd. Abhimanyu Poddar, Vice-President, Marketing Dipra Lahiri, President of Nepal PGA Rabindra Man Shrestha, President of Gokarna Golf Club Suhrid Ghimire and Captain Joseph Nathan handed over the prizes to the winners.

On Thursday, Sukra Bahadur Rai won the Surya Nepal Premier — the ninth and final event under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2018-19 — becoming the first amateur golfer to win two major titles in a single season. Rai posted the 72-hole total of 11-under 277 to edge past defending champion pro Bhuwan Nagarkoti by one stroke. Rai had defeated Shivaram Shrestha to win the Surya Nepal Eastern Open for his maiden title in December last year.

Nagarkoti, who failed to win a single title in the season and was behind amateur golfers in two tournaments, claimed the Nepal No 1 pro status after finishing first in the Order of Merit. Shrestha, who skipped the last four events after winning three of the five tournaments, dropped down to second, while Ramesh Adhikari rose to third in Order of Merit after his second-place finish in Tour’s flagship event. Sanjay Lama and Dhana Thapa completed top five in Order of Merit. In a season which was dominated by amateur golfers, Subash Tamang and Tanka Bahadur Karki bagged one title each.

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