Kathmandu, April 14
Surendra Phuyal won the second edition of the Surya Nepal Gokarna Monthly Medal here at the Gokarna Golf Club today.
Played under stroke play full handicap format, the seven-handicapper Phuyal carded six-under 66 nett to win the trophy. Purna Bahadur Rai came second on count back after he was tied on three-under 69 nett with Jigme Dongstetang. Rai carded two-under 34 on the back nine, while Dongstetang played even-par 36.
Phuyal was also the best golfer in gross section with the score of one-over 73 but he chose the nett category trophy under one-player-one-prize rule of the tournament. Wangchen Dhondup bagged the trophy on count back after he was tied on three-over 75 with Tashi Tshiring. Dhondup scored two-over 38 on the back nine, while Tshiring played three-over 39.
The junior section winner was also decided on count back after three players — Ang Phurba Sherpa, Mayank Dahal and Shreeyog Basnyat — were tied at five-under 67 nett. Sherpa claimed the title as he had played eight-under 28 nett on the back nine, while Basnyat shot two-under 34 and Dahal carded one-over 37.
In all, 38 golfers took part in the tournament organised by Gokarna Golf Club under the sponsorship
of Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd. President of Gokarna Golf Club Suhrid Ghimire handed over the prizes to the winners.
After the second edition, Phuyal moved to the top of the nett section leaderboard with 115 points, while the first-edition winner Prabhakar Adhikari slipped to second with
100 points. Jigme Dongstetang was third with 65 points, while Ang Dendi Sherpa and Purna Bahadur Rai shared the fourth position with 60.
In gross section, Tashi Tshiring led the table with 140 points, ahead of Surendra Phuyal (130). Wangchen Dhondup was third with 120 points, followed by Tashi Dong (75) and Vijay Einhaus (35).
In junior section, Ang Phurba Sherpa was at the top with 200 points, while Sam Doublard was second with 90 and Arnav Shah third with 75.
A total of 10 monthly medal rounds will be played until December. Top 40 players in nett category, 10 in gross and five in junior section will qualify for the club championships finals, which will be played over two rounds in January and February next year.
A version of this article appears in print on April 15, 2018 of The Himalayan Times.