By Rahul Banerji
Abhijit Singh Chadha of Chandigarh managed rainy conditions well to take the early initiative at the Rs. 40 lakh Pune Open Golf Championship at the Poona Club Golf Course on Wednesday.
Chadha’s fiery 7-under 63 gave him the clubhouse lead on a day that was hit by rain throughout the proceedings, says the PGTI.
Gurgaon-based rookie Kartik Sharma and Delhi’s Wasim Khan were tied for second in the clubhouse on 4-under 66s.
There was light rain at the start of play which intensified later, forcing the suspension of play at 5 pm. Thirty players are yet to finish round one out of a total field of 126.
They will resume round one at 7 am on Thursday. Round two will get underway immediately after the completion that.
Chadha, a two-time winner on the PGTI, started shakily with a bogey the first after the club slipped out of his hands on an approach shot thanks to as a result of the conditions.
However, he fought back with a terrific tee shot on the par-3 fourth where he had a tap-in for birdie.
Chadha then got on a roll from the seventh onwards where he made a 20-foot birdie conversion. The next three holes saw him make birdie-eagle-birdie, chipping in for the eagle on the par-4 ninth.
Wedge wonder
He capitalised on the two par-5s, the 12th and 18th, by laying up and hitting his wedge shots to perfection to pick up two more birdies.
Chadha, who made an eagle, six birdies and a bogey on Wednesday, said, “I didn’t start well but things changed for the better from the seventh where my second shot hit the flag and rolled back off the green.
“I made a long putt there and that got me going. What followed was a good momentum stretch for me.
“The conditions were tough today but I kept myself very organised and handled the conditions really well.
“My caddie, the experienced Raju, did a wonderful job handling me and everything around the bag. Credit to him as he was an important part of my round today.”
Kartik Sharma had an eventful day as he mixed an eagle and six birdies with four bogeys. The lanky young man was 1-under through 16 holes before he closed the day in style with birdie-eagle on the eighth and ninth.
Mixed bag
He sank a 30-footer on the eighth and holed his second shot from 40 yards on the par-4 ninth. Earlier he had also chipped-in from just off the green for birdie on the fifth.
Kartik said, “I think I dealt well with the conditions physically as well as mentally. When it rains, I generally don’t stay at home, instead I go and practice.
“This habit has helped me get used to playing in the rain. It’s probably also the reason I negotiated the conditions well today.”
Wasim Khan had a bogey start but turned it around with birdie on the nine followed by four more on the last five holes.
Wasim adjusted well to the wet conditions by using his 3-wood instead of the driver and produced solid results with his irons and wedges.
Among the players who finished, Chandigarh’s Harendra Gupta had the next best score of 67. He was fourth in the clubhouse.
Rajiv Niranjan Datar had the best opening day among the Pune-based players as he shot a 70 to be tied 16th in the clubhouse.
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