Hosur, Aug 5 (IANS) Experienced and much-decorated Vani Kapoor was joined by two young and promising talents, amateur Ayesha Gupta and Riya Jadon, in a shared lead at 4-under 67 after the first round of the 11th Leg of the Women’s Pro Golf Tour at the Clover Greens, Hosur, Tamil Nadu.
Vani teed off from the first and picked up three birdies in her first six holes to get off to a great start. She added birdies on the 13th and 15th but dropped a bogey on the 14th, finishing with a 67 as she was in the last group off the first tee.
Meanwhile, Ayesha, who was the first to tee off in the morning from the tenth tee, and Riya, the second-to-last group to go off from the back tees, also played superbly. Ayesha, just 16, who is said to have been inspired by Shubhankar Sharma and is backed by Roundglass Academy, like Sharma, was bogey-free with two birdies on either side of the lovely Clover Greens layout.
Riya, who had five birdies and two bogeys between the 16th and the third in a six-hole run, closed with a birdie on the ninth to join Vani and Ayesha.
Heena Kang, who has been showing a lot of promise, had four birdies against one bogey for her 3-under 68 and was sole fourth, while five players, led by the experienced Amandeep Drall, a former runner-up at the Hero Women’s Indian Open, amateur Priya Kumari, Shagun Narain, Smriti Bhargav and Jasmine Shekar were all tied for fifth place with rounds of 1-under 70 each.
Anvvi Dahhiya and Ketaki Sood shot par each and were tied 10th as 11 players carded par or better on the first day.
Multiple winners this year, Ridhima Dilawari and the promising Mannat Brar were Tied-12th alongside Nayanika Sanga, Anvitha Narender and Lavanya Jadon with scores of 1-over 72 each.
Among those in the fray in the 11th leg of the WPGT event are 53 players, including eight amateurs, as the field sizes have consistently gone past 50 in recent weeks. The addition of top amateurs each week has added to the spice as the amateurs have shown that they are ready to take on the best pros in the country on the domestic front.
–IANS
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