NGC’s ‘Hammer-Deep’ Malik soars to Golconda Masters lead

By Rahul Banerji

Noida Golf Course-based professional Amardip Malik, also known to family and friends as ‘Hammer-Deep’, blasted his way to a sparkling nine-under-par 62 to take the first round lead at the PGTI’s season-opener, the Golconda Masters Golf Championship powered By Telangana Tourism at the Hyderabad Golf Club on Wednesday.

In doing so, Malik equalled two-time Golconda Masters champion and good friend Ajeetesh Sandhu’s course record set in 2016.

Patna’s Aman Raj, who recently qualified for the Asian Tour and Bengaluru’s M. Dharma were tied second with excellent rounds of seven-under-64.

Malik, a two-time winner on the PGTI, had a roller-coaster day with an amazing 12 birdies against one bogey and a double which came when the 33-year-old hit the ball out of bounds on the very first hole.

The Malik Show

After that, though, it was the Malik show all the way barring one dropped shot on the fifth hole, as he brought in the round of the day courtesy his clean ball-striking, iron-play and consistent putting. He made birdies on all the four par-5s finding the green in two shots on three of them.

Malik made some quality chip-putts for birdies and missed out on a hole-in-one by a whisker on top of everything else. His approaches on a couple of holes set up birdie putts within five feet and he also drained three birdies from between 15 and 30 feet. A three over on the front nine was followed by an eye-popping six-under on the way back.

Malik said later, “This is probably the most satisfying round for me in about four years. Golfers usually complain about leaving shots out on the course. I felt I made up three to four shots today especially with the four consecutive birdies.

“However, I was unlucky to miss out on a six-foot birdie conversion on the 18^th that could’ve taken me to 10-under. But I couldn’t have asked for more.

Repeat feat

“Interestingly, it was the second time that I ended up with a score of nine-under at the HGC despite making a double-bogey on the opening hole. At the inaugural 2015 edition of the tournament, I had shot a second round of nine-under-61 after recovering from a double-bogey on the opening hole when the course was a par-70.

“I’ve been playing well over the last couple of months and have carried that form into this event. I had a third place finish at the PGTI’s season-ending event in December and then narrowly missed out on earning an Asian Tour card after having been in contention till the penultimate round. These two performances added to my confidence.

“I would like to thank Gurbaaz Mann for helping me with my club-fitting last week which has contributed to my good start here in Hyderabad. Gurbaaz is my mentor, club-fitter and a close friend,” added Malik, who won his last event at, the ONGC Masters, as his home course, the NGC, in October 2017.

Raj, Dharma on fire too

Aman Raj, fresh from qualifying for the Asian Tour for the first time, mixed nine birdies with two bogeys to close the round in tied second. He converted five birdie putts from a range of eight to 20 feet and chipped-in for birdie on the 16^th.

Dharma traded eight birdies for a bogey in his round of 64 to sit alongside Aman Raj.

Bengaluru’s S. Chikkarangappa was fourth on 7-under 65 while two-time champion Ajeetesh Sandhu of Chandigarh was tied seventh at 67 along with Bengaluru’s Khalin Joshi and Delhi’s Rashid Khan and six others.

Defending champion Udayan Mane of Ahmedabad was tied 19^th at 68 while another former Golconda Masters winner, Harendra Gupta of Chandigarh, ended the day in tied 49^th at level par 71.

Tvesa opens up 8-shot lead

In Ahmedabad, Tvesa Malik had the day’s only sub-par round to open up a massive eight-shot lead after the second round of the Rs. 8 lakh third leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour at the Kensville Golf and Country Club on Wednesday.

Tvesa had four birdies against three bogeys, two of which came in succession. She opened the day with a birdie and picked up further shots, one before making the turn and two on her way back to the clubhouse though she dropped a further shot on her in-bound nine. She now has a two-day total of 143.

For her part, Amandeep Drall, tied third overnight, moved into second place with a 74 that included three birdies on the back nine against five dropped shots three of which came in her first four holes. She took her aggregate to 151, but still eight shots behind the leader.

Gaurika Bishnoi had an off day with just one birdie against seven dropped shots in her 78 that resulted in her slipping to third place from second in a total of 153.

Second leg winner Gursimar Badwal and Siddhi Kapoor, are tied for fourth with scores of 76 and 77 respectively on the day. While Gursimar had three bogeys in first four holes, Siddhi had three in three though both did well to recover for a total of 154.

Opening leg topper Neha Tripathi (77), Afshan Fatima (81), Jyotsana Singh (82), Ishvari Prasanna (81) and Smriti Mehra (84) completed the top 10.

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