Ajeetesh Sandhu
Classic Golf & Country Club, Mewat, Haryana, October 4,
2016: Chandigarh ’s
Ajeetesh Sandhu enjoyed the early advantage at the Rs. 50 lakh PGTI Masters
2016 being played at the Classic Golf & Country Club in Mewat, Haryana.
Sandhu posted a breathtaking seven-under-65 to take the
clubhouse lead on day one as the opening round could not be completed due to
heavy rain.
Sujjan Singh, another Chandigarh
golfer, occupied joint second place along with Delhi ’s Gulfam at five-under-67.
Ajeetesh Sandhu, currently placed fourth in the Rolex
Ranking thanks to a win and five other top-10s this season, had an error-free
day as he drained an eagle and four birdies.
The 27-year-old Ajeetesh, who advanced to the third
qualifying stage of the Japan Golf Tour last month, picked up two birdies on
the front-nine before chipping-in for another on the 10th.
Sandhu, fresh from a top-10 finish at PGTI’s last event in
Ahmedabad, tapped-in for his fourth birdie of the day on the 12th which
was followed by a 15-feet eagle conversion on the 14th. He finally knocked in a
12-footer for birdie on the 16th to set the pace on day one.
Ajeetesh said, “I was hitting it well off the tee and also
sank some long putts today. The conditions were good for scoring while I was
playing as there was no breeze. The rough is also lesser than the last time we
played at Classic two months back. I had done really well in the first half of
the year and am now looking to make further inroads.
“Getting past the second stage of qualifying for the Japan
Golf Tour has been a huge morale-booster. The fact that I didn’t scrape through
but instead finished inside the top-10 in the second qualifying stage,
reinforced my confidence,” added Sandhu, who has to clear four stages of
qualifying to earn his card in Japan .”
Sujjan Singh, a 10th tee starter, also had a bogey-free
day. He picked up strokes on three of the four par-5s – the 14th, third and
ninth – and converted from a range of 10 to 15 feet on the 15th and 17th.
Sujjan said, “I’ve changed a few things in my game since the
last event three weeks back. I’m using a new driver, 3-wood and putter and have
also made a few adjustments in my swing. These changes seem to be settling well
at the moment.”
The seasoned Gulfam mixed six birdies with a bogey on day
one to lie joint second along with Sujjan.
Bengaluru’s C Muniyappa and Delhi ’s Ashok Kumar were joint fourth with
scores of four-under-68.
Heavy rain first halted play at 1430 hrs local time. Play
resumed at 1630 hrs only to be finally suspended for the day at 1700 hrs due to
fading light. The 66 golfers from the morning session completed their round but
the remaining 60 golfers from the afternoon session who could not complete their
round, will resume play at 0730 hrs on Wednesday (October 5).
Round 1 leading scores:
65: Ajeetesh Sandhu
67: Gulfam, Sujjan Singh
68: C Muniyappa, Ashok Kumar
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