Pahalgam: Chandigarh Amateur Tavleen Batra surprised many at the Lidder valley golf course in Pahalgam today, as she led the field along with veteran golfer Smriti Mehra in the sixth leg of the Hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour 2014. The INR 7,00,000 event is being played at the picturesque Lidder Valley Colf Course from the 18th – 20th of June 2014. The Chandigarh amateur who is playing her maiden event of the HWPGT displayed great temperament and skill in the first round. Tavleen and Smriti were tied first at the end of round one with identical scores of three under 68.
Tavleen started her campaign with a bogey on the first and the 10th holes. The Chandigarh amateur however steadied herself very quickly and displayed a good hold on her game, carding six birdies on the 7th, 8th, 9th, 14th, 15th and 17th holes.
Veteran Smriti Mehra, who has had a mixed season so far, was in her element today displaying great acumen as one of India’s finest women professional golfers. The Delhi golfer who is currently placed second in the money list played some exceptional golf today, carding nine birdies on the 3rd, 5th, 6th, 8th, 9th, 12th, 14th, 15th and 18th holes. Three bogeys on the 4th, 13th and 17th holes and a triple bogey on the 11th hole was the only dampener in the otherwise impressive scorecard.
The Hero Order of Merit leader Vani Kapoor had a shaky start but made a remarkable comeback in the back nine to trail the leaders by a single shot, being placed at the third position after the first round. Vani’s front nine consisted of two bogeys on the 2nd and 6th holes and a birdie on the 9th hole. However, she made a strong comeback with a bogey free back nine along with three birdies on the 11th, 14th and 16th holes, finishing her first round at 2 under 69.
Delhi amateur golfer Mehar Atwal also had an impressive first round as she finished day one at fourth position on level par score. Mehar played a consistent round with three birdies and three bogeys to finish day one on level par.
Chandigarh’s Preetinder Kaur and Saaniya Sharma along with Kapurthala golfer Gursimran Badwal and Kolkata’s Neha Tripathi are placed joint fifth with identical scores of 1 over 72. Kolkata’s Vandana Agarwal with a score of two over 73 is placed ninth and Bengaluru golfer Nikki Ponappa with a score of five over 76 is placed 10th after round one.
The Hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour 2014 comprises a total of fifteen legs spanning across key locations in India.
