Ajeetesh sets the bar with opening 62

Chandigarh’s Ajeetesh Sandhu set the bar at an imposing nine-under-62 in round one of the Golconda Masters 2016 at the Hyderabad Golf Club (HGC) here on Thursday. His city-mate Abhijit Singh Chadha ended in second place, two strokes behind at seven-under-64 at the Rs 40 lakh event. Ajeetesh Sandhu came up with an error-free 62 to announce himself as a contender this week.

The 28-year-old Ajeetesh, a winner on the PGTI in 2012, was striking the ball to perfection as he capitalized on three of the four par-5s and also landed it within six feet of the pin on four occasions. Ajeetesh left himself only two long putts on the opening day, both of which he sank for birdies on the 18th and fourth. He thus set the course record at HGC which is being played as a par-71 course for the first time in a professional event.

Sandhu, who missed the cut at the inaugural edition of the Golconda Masters, has now entered this year’s tournament with a new putter seeking a reversal of fortune. Ajeetesh said, “I had a torrid time with the putter at the last event so I borrowed my friend and fellow professional C Muniyappa’s putter this week as the same model had worked for me earlier. I’ve been striking it well for a while now but on Thursday I also made the putts that mattered.”

Abhijit Singh Chadha, who only recently recovered from a minor back injury, put together an eagle, seven birdies and two bogeys in his first round. He chipped-in from over the green for eagle on the eighth. Anura Rohana, runner-up at last week’s PGTI event in Bengaluru, continued his hot streak with a quality round of six-under-65. The 42-year-old seasoned pro from Colombo nailed seven birdies at the expense of just one bogey to occupy third place.

Mandeo Singh Pathania of the Jaypee Greens Golf Resort, Greater Noida, had the distinction of firing two eagles, on the sixth and eighth, both par-5s, during his round of 66, that placed him tied fourth. Pathania landed his approach two feet from the flag on the sixth before chipping-in on the eighth. Gurgaon-based Shubhankar Sharma shared fourth place with Pathania after shooting a round that featured six birdies and a bogey.

Defending champion Harendra Gupta of Chandigarh was off to a steady start with a three-under-68 to be tied 11th. He made six straight birdies from the sixth to the 11th and narrowly missed a seventh consecutive birdie. Hyderabad-based professional H Sunil Kumar made a hole-in-one on the seventh at his home course. He ended the day in tied 105th with a round of six-over-77. Sanjay Kumar Singh, the other professional from Hyderabad, was placed tied 66th at two-over-73.