seasoned M Dharma of Bengaluru and Ahmedabad-based rookie Anshul Patel took the honors on the opening day of the maiden Glade One Masters golf here on Tuesday. Dharma and Patel shot scores of three-under-33 over nine holes in the first-ever professional round played at the Glade One Golf Resort to take the initial lead.
The six players bunched together in tied third place with scores of two-under-34 were Delhi’s Honey Baisoya, Patna’s Aman Raj, Bengalureans Khalin Joshi, and Trishul Chinnappa, Chandigarh’s Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, and Faridabad-based Abhinav Lohan.
Aman Raj had the highest birdie count on day one as he accumulated five birdies at the expense of three bogeys.
As per the unique format of the tournament, the first two rounds will comprise nine holes each. After 18 holes the cut will be applied. The third and fourth rounds will then comprise of 18 holes each. The tournament will be played over a total of 54 holes.
Anshul Patel, who turned professional this season, looked quite comfortable at a course where he’s played about seven or eight times before. He fired eight greens in regulation to set up his birdies on the third, sixth, and eighth.
“I’ve been playing at Glade One Golf Resort for the last one month to prepare for this event and that helped me adapt well to the conditions here during round one. You need to know where to place it on this course and you cannot attack all through your round,” said Anshul.
“I didn’t drive well today but I hit my second shots quite close and found eight out of nine greens. Even when I missed the green once it was on the right side. Importantly, I scrambled well today for a par on the first after a bad drive. That just got my round going. I feel the first and the ninth holes are the toughest on this course and will test most players going ahead.”
M. Dharma, a two-time winner on the PGTI, made a 15-feet birdie conversion early on the third but then made a three-putt bogey on the sixth after missing a few short birdie putts on the fourth and fifth.
Dharma finally rallied with some outstanding iron shots to pick up birdies from short range on the seventh, eighth and ninth and close the round in the joint lead.
Among the prominent names, Chikkarangappa, Ajeetesh Sandhu, Karandeep Kochhar, and Viraj Madappa shot scores of one-under-35 to be placed tied ninth.
Udayan Mane’s one-over-37 placed him tied 50th.
