Ghei makes hay as the sun shines on inaugural day

Gaurav Ghei was amongst the few who did not have many problems as he took the lead at the end of first days play with his round of three-under-par, 68. Starting the day with birdies on the third and fourth, the Delhi pro bogeyed the fifth but another birdie on the seventh saw him make the turn at three-under. Ghei then sank a 25-footer on the 11th to make his first birdie on the back nine, before “hitting his bad patch”, as he put it. He bogeyed the 12th where he hit a bad second shot, left of the green and failed to make an up and down for par. Then on the 13th he sank a 15-footer for par, before dropping the final stroke of the day on the 14th where he hit his drive into the left rough and found it stuck behind a tree. He then hacked it out, got it onto the green but missed the putt for par. His bad patch continued on the 15th where he pulled his drive, “but since it was a solid contact, it crossed everything and reached the fairway from where Gaurav converted it to his advantage and hit a lob wedge close to make another birdie. Another birdie on the par-three 16th hole saw him card a 68 and lead the championship by a solitary stroke.

Gaurav, is working on his game, “with Italian coach Donato de Ponziano as well as with Nonita Lall back home. I want to be more consistent and am going back to the basics. I am also trying to work on my strong points,” he added.

Meanwhile, two-time winner Uttam Singh Mundy, who won in ’96 and ’98, 2000 winner Vijay Kumar and defending champion Arjun Singh were back in the groove as all three golfers trailed by one after carding 69’s. Uttam admitted that the course was playing long, which was obvious as numerous players struggled on the par-four 18th, leaving their second shots short and making a chip and putt for par.

A number of players were bunched together in the later half of the scoreboard. Ashok Kumar, Rafiq Ali, Yusuf ali, Mohd. Islam, Mohd. Salim, were at one-under, 70, while Harmeet Kahlon, Indrajit Bhalotia, V Arumugam, Monish Bindra, Jaiveer Virk and Feroz Ali were tied at level-par for the day. Commenting on the greens, Harmeet said: “They are not very quick but not that slow either. They are a comfortable speed.”

Kapil Dev, who is participating in the event as an amateur and carded a four-over today, agreed that the course was playing long, an opinion also voiced by Indrajit and Amit Dube, who teed off early this morning.

SCORES: 68 – Guarav Ghei; 69 – Arjun Singh, Uttam Singh Mundy, Vijay Kumar; 70 – Ashok Kumar, Mohd. Islam, Mohd. Salim, Rafiq Ali, Yusuf Ali; 71 – Feroz Ali, Harmeet Kahlon, Indrajit Bhalotia, Jaiveer Virk, Monish Bindra, V Arumugam; 72 – DS Raghuvanshi, Dinesh Kumar, Mukesh Kumar.