Smriti Mehra takes early lead after Rd 1

Smriti had two double bogeys in the first four holes but steadied herself from thereon to sink five birdies on the fifth,sixth,11th,12th and 15th. Her double bogeys came on the first and fourth holes and the solitary bogey on the 17th. Ankita carded three birdies on the fifth,12th and 14th whereas Vani has four birdies on the 10th,11th,13th and 16th.

Amateur golfer Gursimran Badwal who is tied second with Ankita and Vani after the first round,carded three birdies on the fifth,eight and 16th holes. All three will have their task cut out on Wednesday if they want to close the gap between them and Smriti. Chandigarh golfer Saaniya Sharma was lying tied tenth spot along with Nikki Ponappa.

Sharma had a fine start as she made a bogey on the first hole but fell behind later. Sharma made a par at the second hole before making three consecutive bogeys. Bad luck did not leave Sharma as she again carded three consecutive bogeys on the 11th,12th and 13th holes respectively before making a double bogey on the 15th hole.

“I had a fine start as I made a birdie on the first hole. But I could not catch up later in the round. It was bad round for me today but I expect to bounce back in the last two rounds. Last week,I played despite fever and I need some time to gain momentum. The course here in Panchkula is different than the one in Chandigarh Golf Club and it will be tough in the last two rounds,” share Sharma.

Another Chandigarh golfer Amandeep Drall,who was lying tied fifth after the end of the first round,had a good day as compared to other Chandigarh golfers. Drall managed to score a par on the first three holes before she carded a double bogey on the fourth hole. Drall again made a double bogey on the seventh hole before making five consecutive pars on the last five holes. The winner of the fifth leg Neha Tripathi had a disappointing day on the greens today and is lying tied eighth with Pallavi Jain with a round one score of 82.