Teenage rookie Soni hogs Vizag first round limelight at EPGC

Day one leader Milind Soni of Hyderabad in action at the East Point Golf Club on Wednesday. Image courtesy PGTI.

By Rahul Banerji

Teenage rookie Milind Soni hogged the limelight on day one of the Rs 1 crore Vizag Open with an 8 under par 63 to take a three-shot lead at the East Point Golf Club on Wednesday.

Two of the pre-tournament favourites, Khalin Joshi of Bangalore and Patna’s Aman Raj, were tied for second on 5 under 66s.

Nineteen-year-old Soni, who has one top-10 in his rookie season, was off to a great start with a birdie on the 10^th, his opening hole of the tournament.

The Hyderabad golfer, in terrific form with the putter, then sank four more birdies from between 15 and 20 feet.

Soni made more gains with his exceptional approach shots that set up birdies on holes four and seven before capping a flawless round with another long conversion on the eight.

The former India no. 1 junior and no. 2 amateur, said, “With the narrow fairways and thick rough here at EPGC, there was a premium on hitting greens in regulation. I made 16 regulations today.

Good memories

“My putter was hot and I hardly missed any putts. I have good memories of the course having won my second and last amateur title here in 2022.

“So, despite missing the cut at my home course last week in Hyderabad, I came into this event with a lot of confidence.

“With the heat and humidity making life tough, I adapted by keeping myself hydrated and wiping my hands regularly.”

Joshi too produced an error-free round. His five birdies featured a couple of tap-ins including one on the eighth where he narrowly missed a hole-in-one.

Aman Raj made six birdies including a chip-in against a lone bogey while reigning champion N. Thangaraja of Sri Lanka fired a 70 to be tied 21^st.

Among the Visakhapatnam-based golfers, S. Muthu (75) was the highest-placed at tied 93^rd.

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