Amateur Karki wins Tour Championship crown

Tanka Bahadur Karki receives the trophy from Marketing Manager of Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd Bal Kishan Gurung after the Surya Nepal NPGA Tour Championship in Kathmandu on Thursday.

Kathmandu, April 25

Amateur golfer Tanka Bahadur Karki won the title of the Surya Nepal NPGA Tour Championship here at the par-72 Gokarna Golf Club today.

Karki registered a threestroke victory over pro Sanjay Lama and became the third amateur golfer to win the title in the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2018-19. Fellow national team member Sukra Bahadur Rai and young Subash Tamang have also claimed one each title this season.

Out of the eight events played this season, Nepal No 1 pro Shiva Ram Shrestha bagged four titles, while Army Club pro Dhana Thapa pocketed one. Karki, who won the Bhutan Open title in 2017, became the fifth amateur golfer to win the major title in domestic tournaments.

Karki carded one-under 71 in the final round for the 72- hole total of four-under 284.

Karki, who had two-shot cushion over Deepak Acharya going into the final round, played even-par 36 on the front nine and carded one-under 35 on the latter half. Teeing off from the 10th hole, Karki faced two straight bogeys on the 11th and 12th holes before bouncing back with birdies on the 14th and 18th. On the back nine, Karki dropped shots on the fifth and eighth against birdies on the third, sixth and ninth holes.

Lama finished first among the pros after he carded four-under 68 to move up three places with the score of one-under 287. Lama, who was six strokes behind Karki after third round, carded three-under 33 on his front nine with the help of birdies on the 11th, 12th and 15th holes. After taking the turn, Lama carded a birdie on the fourth to finish the back nine at one-under 35.

Bhuwan Nagarkoti (74) and Dinesh Prajapati (75) were overall third and joint second among pros at three-over 291.

They earned Rs 66,000 each.

Three pros, Suman Rai (71), Deepak Magar (71) and Deepak Acharya (78) shared the fourth spot at five-over 293 and they got Rs 37,000 apiece.

Rabi Khadka was seventh at eight-over 296, while Bikash Adhikari and Jayaram Shrestha were joint eighth at nine-over 297. Surya Prasad Sharma, Rame Magar and Shiva Kumar Majhi shared the 10th position at 10-over 298.

Amateurs Subash Tamang and Bipin Tamang were tied for fifth overall after they posted four-over 292. Subash, who won the Surya Nepal Challenge at the Royal Nepal Golf Club last month, was runner-up on count back. Subash carded three-under 69 in the final round, while Bipin shot one-over 73.

Tashi Ghale, who made his professional debut from the tournament, finished tied on 19th position with the total score of 309. Ghale turned pro through an Senior Asian Tour event in Singapore last month, shot second straight 77 to add to his first two round scores of 79 and 76.

In all, 42 players — 34 pros and eight amateur golfers — participated in the event sponsored by Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd. The penultimate event of the season carried a cash purse of Rs 661,500. Marketing Manager of Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd Bal Kishan Gurung, Brand Manager Keshav Pradhan, NGA President Tashi Ghale and NPGA Advisor Ghana Shyam Thapa handed over the prizes to the winners. The final event of the Surya Nepal Golf Tour — Surya Nepal Premier — will be held at the Gokarna Golf Club next month.