Sharma, Kaushal set pace
Youngsters Shubhankar Sharma and Dipankar Kaushal stole the show with scores of four- under- 68 even as all eyes were on established stars, Jeev Milkha Singh and Jyoti Randhawa, in Round One of the TAKE Open at the Chandigarh Golf Club on Thursday.
Local lad Sharma and Noida’s Kaushal led the field by one stroke from a bunch of five including Chandigarh’s Sujjan Singh, Delhi’s Vikram Rana, Pradeep Kumar of Noida, Kolkata’s Md Sanju and Veer Ahlawat of Gurgaon, in joint third with three- under- 69s.
Sharma, who moved from Gurgaon to Chandigarh last season, was accurate off the tee and with his wedges on Thursday. The Asian Tour regular was twounder through 11 holes before he made some quality up and downs to produce three birdies over the next six holes. The 21year- old, however, ended the day with a bogey where he missed an up and down from the bunker.
Shubhankar said, “Everything seemed to fall in place for me today. I struck it well off the tee and played some good wedge shots after a long time. I also hit a lot of greens in regulation. I controlled myself really well and managed the course well.”
Kaushal, meanwhile, fresh from a top- 20 last week in Noida where he posted an opening round of six- under, carried on the good work with six birdies and two bogeys. The 31- year- old came up with two chip- ins on the day, first on the third and then on the seventh.