Digvijay Singh, Chand Mia share day's honours
Digvijay Singh of Meerut and home grown hero Chand
Mia from Bangladesh were the only two players to return sub par scores
during the opening round of the inaugural Bhatiary Open 2001, the
first-ever professional golf tournament to be played in Bangladesh.
At the par-72 Bhatiary Golf and Country Club, Digvijay and Chand Mia shot
one-under 71 each to open a one-stroke lead over Wills Sport Indian Golf
Tour veteran Rohtas Singh, Rafiq Ali and Mohammed Norul Islam, who tied for
the third place at even par 72.
On a day when the course certainly bared its teeth, fabulous golfing
weather and pristine course conditions kept the participants in good humour.
After a lavish opening ceremony when the Chief of Army Staff declared the
tournament open, Vijay Kumar, the highest earning golfer on the Wills Sport Golf Tour
for the past three seasons, was given the honour of hitting the opening
drive.
The players were faced with the daunting task of some tucked-in pin
placements and fairly subtle lines on the greens and the opening nine took
its toll. The par fives are reachable and give a distinct birdie
opportunities for the participants, but the swirling winds put paid to any
low score aspirations and resulted in several bogies.
Chand Mia, who gained a full exemption on the Indian Tour thanks to his
top-10 finish in the Qualifying School at Pune in 2000, benefited from his
consistent, if unspectacular, showing. He made only two birdies, one of
which was offset by a bogey as he finished with a 71.
"It is a great honour
to lead on the first day of the first professional event in my own country,
but there are still three days remaining and I would be more happy if I am
on top of the leaderboard after 72 holes," said the top Bangladesh pro.
Digvijay Singh had four birdies, but the 13th hole indeed proved unlucky
for
him as he made a double bogey there.
"The course is playing very well, but
it is not as easy as it looks," said the winner of the BPGC Open last year.
Rohtas Singh, winner of TNGF Open in December, was in the hunt once again
as
he made the turn at one-under, but could not maintain the momentum in the
back nine to finish at level-par along with Rafiq Ali and Mohammed Norul
Islam.
The big guns of Indian golf had an ordinary day with Vijay Kumar at 73 and
the current number one player Shiv Prakash, Mukesh Kumar and Feroz Ali at
74.
Much was expected from Rahul Ganapathy, the runaway leader in the race for
the Rookie of the Year award. But the Bangalore-based youngster received an
early wake up call when a triple bogey on the par-4 3rd was followed up by
a four putt double bogey on the fifth. To his credit, he hung on valiantly to
close at three-over 75 and was joined by Vishal Singh and KPS Sekhon.
Babu Ahmed, who has had some creditable showings on the Indian PGA Tour,
would have been disappointed with his first outing on home soil when he
ballooned to a 80.
Among the amateurs, Mohammed Milon was the best with a four-over 76.
With many players having come in only on Monday with delayed flights
meaning
as much as a twenty hour journey much is expected on Wednesday as they have now
had time to soak in the atmosphere not be distracted by the sheer natural
beauty of this wonderful facility and outstanding hospitality.
SCORES (after 18 holes): 71 _ Chand Mia, Digvijay Singh; 72 _ Md. Norul
Islam Gani, Rafiq Ali, Rohtas Singh; 73 _ Vijay Kumar; 74 _ Feroz Ali,
Mukesh Kumar, Sanjay Kumar, Shiv Prakash, Yusuf Ali; 75 _ Rahul Ganapathy,
Vishal Singh, KPS Sekhon; Amateurs: 76 _ Mohd. Milon, 79 _ Siddiqur Rahman
