Amateurs led by Nishna hold spotlight on Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour leg 1

Khel Today Bureau 

Pune: Amateurs led by Nishna Patel occupied three of the top four places at the end of the first round of the opening leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour at the Poona Club Golf Course.

While Nishna led the charts with a 5-under 66, another amateur Mannat Brar (69) also had an eagle two on the Par-4 fifth and shot 3-under 69 as did professional Hitaashee Bakshi (69). Anuradha Chaudhuri, who has been doing well on the Indian Golf Union’s amateur circuit, carded 1-under 70 to be fourth.

Nishna, who has been part of the Indian amateur team for a while, shot a stunning 5-under 66 which included an eagle 2 on the Par-4 sixth hole, besides four other birdies against just one bogey on the Par-3 13^th hole.

Nishna, winner of the Western India Ladies in 2023, was also runner-up at the Asia Pacific Juniors in Manila in 2023.

Hitaashee bogeyed the first and the third for a troubled start, but then recovered with an eagle on the Par-4 fifth and birdies on seventh and 14^th.

Mannat Brar, who will be playing at the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championships next month in Thailand, opened with a birdie and closed the day with an eagle on the par-5 18^th. In between she had two bogeys and a birdie.

Yet another amateur, Anuradha Chaudhuri, had five birdies, including one each on the first and last holes of the day, against one bogey and one double bogey.

The 2023 Hero Order of Merit leader, Sneha Singh (72) was tied fifth alongside Jasmine Shekar and Khushi Khanijau.

Khushi seemed set for a good round as she ran up four birdies against two bogeys on the front nine and added another birdie on the 10^th to be three-under. However, she dropped four shots in the last eight holes and ended at 1-over 72.

Seasoned Amandeep Drall (73) and Rhea Jha (73) were tied at eighth. Five players were bunched at Tied-10 and they included Neha Tripathi, Saaniya Sharma, Ananya Garg, Seher Atwal and Shweta Mansingh. They carded 3-over 74 each.

Tee times for Round 2 of the opening leg of the 2024 Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour at Poona Golf Club:

1. 8:30 am Anaggha Venkatesh 84; Shagun Narain 84;
2. 8:40 am Khushi 83; Agrima Manral 80;
3. 8:50 am Ketaki Sood (A) 80; Riya Yadav 80; Sachika Singh 80;
4. 9:00 am Gauri Karhade 79; Mehar Atwal 79; Disha Kavery 78;
5. 9:10 am Ravjot K Dosanjh 78; Jahaanvie Walia 78; Jaanya Bishnoi (A) 78;
6. 9:25 am Karishma Govind 77; Anisha Agarwalla 77; Taniya Balasuriya 76;
7. 9:35 am Rhea Purvi Saravanan 75; Yaalisai Verma 75; Ananya Datar 75;
8. 9:45 am Snigdha Goswami 75; Shweta Mansingh 74; Seher Atwal 74;
9. 9:55 am Ananya Garg 74; Neha Tripathi 74; Saaniya Sharma 74;
10. 10.10 am Amandeep Drall 73; Rhea Jha 73; Khushi Khanijau 72;
11. 10.20 am Sneha Singh 72; Jasmine Shekar 72; Anuradha Chaudhuri (A) 70;
12. 10.30 am Mannat Brar (A) 69; Hitaashee Bakshi 69; Nishna Patel (A) 66.