Smriti off to a good start

Lucknow, 24th November 2016: Smriti Mehra carded three under 67 to grab the lead in the first round of the 16th leg of the Hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour at The Palms Golf Club & Resort here on Thursday .Trailing her in second position with identical scores of one under 69 were Shweta Galande and Vani Kapoor. The INR 6,00,000 event will culminate on 26th November.

Kolkata’s Smriti Mehra started impressively, carding two birdies on the first two holes. Her advantage was, however, short lived as she carded a double bogey on the 4th hole.  She added two more birdies in her front nine on the 8th and 9th holes. She played a more controlled back nine, carding birdies on the 10th and 16th holes while dropping a shot on the 17th to finish with a score of three under 67.

Delhi’s Vani Kapoor and Pune’s Shweta Galande were tied second with identical scores of one under 69 after 18 holes. Shweta carded two birdies on the 5th and 9th holes , which were neutralised by two bogeys on the 6th and 8th. In her back nine, she carded a bogey on the 12th but quickly controlled the damage by pulling out two birdies on the 14th and 16th holes. Vani would have hoped for a better start as her lone birdie in her front nine came on the 9th hole. Her back nine saw birdies on the 10th and 16th holes. However, she struggled to stitch together a series of consistent shots and carded a double bogey on the 12th, to finish a shot adrift of Gursimar Badwal.

Kapurthala’s Gursimar Badwal carded an even par round to take the fourth place after the first round. She carded four birdies on the 1st,7th,11th and 16th holes, while dropping shots on 6th,8th,15th and 18th. Trailing her in the fifth spot is overseas player Kiran Matharu with a score of two over 72. Kiran had an indifferent start, dropping shots on 1st and 9th holes. With no birdies in the front nine, she went on to add a bogey and a birdie apiece on the 12th and 13th holes respectively. 

Panchkula’s Amandeep Drall carded three over 73 to take the sixth position, followed by Delhi’s Ankita Tiwana in seventh with a score of four over 74. Jaipur’s Afshan Fatima is  placed eighth with a score of six over 76.