Patel uses local comfort to share Glade One Masters lead

By Rahul Banerji

Anshul Patel made good use of his familiarity with conditions to share the lead alongside the experienced M. Dharma on day one of the Glade One Masters in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.

In the first ever professional round played at the picturesque Glade One Golf Resort, it was Bangalore’s Dharma and Ahmedabad rookie Patel who took the honours.

Patel and Dharma shot 3-under-33s over the opening nine holes, a shot ahead of a group of six.

The Rs 30 lakh Glade One Masters will be played over two nine-hole rounds and 18 holes thereafter for the final two days.

Tied third on 2-under-34 were Delhi’s Honey Baisoya, Patna’s Aman Raj, Bangaloreans Khalin Joshi and Trishul Chinnappa, Chandigarh’s Yuvraj Singh Sandhu and Faridabad-based Abhinav Lohan.

Aman Raj had the highest birdie count on day one with five against three bogeys.

Anshul, who turned professional earlier in the season in 2020, looked at home on a course he’s played a few times before.

Making gains

He hit eight greens in regulation to set up birdies on the third, sixth and eighth holes.

Bespectacled left-hander Patel said later, “I’ve been playing at Glade One for the last month to prepare for this event and that helped me adapt.

“You need to know where to place it on this course and you cannot attack all through your round.

“I didn’t drive well today but I hit my second shots quite close and found eight out of nine greens.

“Even when I missed the green once it was on the right side. Importantly, I scrambled well today for a par on the first hole after a bad drive.

“That got my round going. I feel the first and the ninth holes are the toughest on this course and will test most players going ahead.”

Dharma, a two-time winner on the PGTI, made a 15-foot birdie conversion on the third and a three-putt bogey on the sixth after missing a few short birdie putts in between.

Dharma rallied with some outstanding iron shots to pick up birdies from short range on his final three holes and close the round in the joint lead.

Chikkarangappa S., Ajeetesh Sandhu, Order of Merit leader Karandeep Kochhar and Viraj Madappa were on 1-under-35s for tied ninth.

Udayan Mane’s one-over-37 had him tied 50^th.

Also read: Om Prakash Chouhan opens up seven-shot lead at Gujarat Open