Lucknow, 02-10-2019
Kashif Alam takes the round one honours at The Palms
Noida’s Kashif Alam struck a flawless six-under-28 to take the honours in round one of the TATA Steel PGTI Feeder Tour 2019 Presented by The Palms Golf Club & Resort.
Abhinav Lohan of the DLF Golf & Country Club, Gurugram, was placed second courtesy his round of five-under-29.
As a result of heavy rain for the last one week part of the course was rendered unplayable and as such the round was reduced to nine holes with the par for the course being 34.
Kashif Alam got his round going with a 15-feet birdie conversion on his first hole, the third. He then made further inroads with three consecutive birdies on the eighth, ninth and 15th. Kashif signed off his round in style with an eagle on the closing 18th where he holed his approach from 60 yards.
Kashif said, “What really clicked for me was the ability to stay in the moment and not get ahead of myself or even get too affected by mishits. I have been practising hard and have had some good finishes on the Feeder Tour, so have been feeling confident. It was about getting it all together. I also felt I didn't try too hard to pull off crazy shots, and played within myself to play percentage shots.
“I putted really well. I was in trouble on two holes, the fifth and seventh, but made two clutch eight and 12 footers for par there. I was rewarded for my patience and focus with a bonus eagle on the 18th where I had a 60 yard pitch second shot to a tight flag which I felt I hit dead, but couldn’t see the result as the flag was tucked in. When I reached the green I couldn’t spot my ball though I had an inkling that it had gone in and sure enough it did. Overall, I’m happy to get off to a great start.”
Abhinav Lohan continued his hot form from the last two weeks to notch a five-under. Lohan, who finished tied 21st at the Asian Tour event at Classic and tied 11th at last week’s Jaipur Open, sank an eagle and four birdies at the expense of a lone bogey on Wednesday.
Abhinav landed his approach from 100 yards to within two feet on the ninth and then sank a 25-feet eagle putt on the 15th.
The Lucknow duo of Sanjeev Kumar and Amardeep Rawat were in tied third with scores of four-under-30 along with Kolkata’s Imran Ali Mollah and Gurugram’s Aditya Raj Kumar Chauhan.
Lucknow’s Sanjay Kumar was in tied 13th at two-under-32.
About PGTI:
Formed in 2006, Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) is the recognised official body of professional golf in India. PGTI's objective is to promote professional golf in the country, as well as to give players an opportunity to be involved in the decision making on all aspects of the game. Headed by Mr. Kapil Dev (President), PGTI's governing body comprises leading Indian golf professionals. PGTI currently has over 300 members.
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