Anshul Patel, Aman Raj share early lead at Gujarat Open

By Rahul Banerji

Local boy Anshul Patel and Patna’s Aman Raj fired opening six-under 66s to jointly lead the Rs. 1 crore Gujarat Open at the Kalhaar Blues & Greens Golf Club in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.

Rookie Makoto Iwasaki (68) of Japan was one shot behind the leaders in third place, the PGTI said.

The Ahmedabad-based Patel, who began the year with a top-10 at Q-School to regain his PGTI card, was off to a cracking start at his home course on Wednesday.

Patel picked up five shots on the back nine where he had started with two long conversions and landing an approach shot to within four feet for eagle on a Par-5 hole.

The 27-year-old then hit it out of bounds on resulting in a double-bogey. Patel then made up for the error by adding three more birdies to his card.

Patel said later, “It was one of those days where I felt I could’ve shot anything. I started off really well and had a feeling I could go low after being five-under through the first seven holes.

“I won’t say that I have the advantage playing at my home course but I do feel a different kind of comfort at Kalhaar since I play here four to five times a week.

Added pressure

“On the other hand, on home turf there is also the added pressure of performing well in the presence of your family and friends and for your home club. So that is something one has to contend with despite having the home comfort.

“One has to keep it in play here as all the slopes are in play right now. But there is also more run on the ball on these fairways.”

Aman Raj, a winner on the PGTI, had early jitters with two successive bogeys. Aman then rallied with eight birdies including three on the last three holes. He made five conversions from a range of 10 to 15 feet.  

Aman said, “Things were working for me today. The putts were falling. I just decided to stay calm and patient and was going with the flow and not really thinking much.

“Planning and course management are key here. You have to know where your misses are.”

Varun Parikh, another local professional, was tied ninth at 70 along with Khalin Joshi.

Among the prominent entries, Viraj Madappa (73) was tied 33^rd, Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (74) was tied 45^th and Udayan Mane (76) was tied 72^nd.

Arjun Sharma held the lead for a while with five birdies and an eagle in his first 12 holes before a triple-bogey and two further dropped shots dented his card.

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