Sanjay Lama and Dhana Bahadur Thapa shared the first round lead in the Surya Nepal Premier Golf Championship at the par-72 Gokarna Golf Club on Monday.

Lama and Thapa carded an identical seven-under 65s in the eighth and final event of the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2016-17. Lurking behind at six-under 66 was Nepal No 1 Shiva Ram Shrestha.  Amateur Sukar Bahadur Rai was in fourth at four-over 68, while Surya Prasad Sharma was a further stroke behind at three-under 69. Bhuwan Nagarkoti, Rame Magar and Bal Bhadra Rai were tied in sixth place at one-under 71.

Tirtha Poudel, Rajendra Thapa Magar and Chuda Bahadur Bhandari were in a group of four tied for ninth at even-par 72 along with amateur player Vijay Shrestha Einhaus. Two amateur golfers Tashi Ghale and Tanka Bahadur Karki shared the 13th place with two pros Bishnu Prasad Sharma and Jayaram Shrestha at one-over 73.

The co-leaders Lama and Thapa both shot identical five-under 31 in the front nine and two-under 34 in the back nine holes. Collectively as well both sank eight birdies against a bogey each. Lama opened the day with two successive birdie before earning more shots on the fourth, sixth and seventh holes in a bogey-free front nine. On his way back, Lama sank birdies on the 10th, 12th and 15th holes but dropped a shot on the par-5  11th. Thapa sank birdies on the third, fourth, fifth, seventh and ninth in his front nine holes. Thapa then added three more birdies on the 12th, 15th and 17th holes but, like Lama, had a bogey on the 16th. Top ranked Nepali golfer Shivaram Shrestha sank five birdies in the front nine but could sink only one birdie in his back nine holes. Shrestha made a perfect start to his day with a birdie on the very first hole. He went on to sink more birdies on the third, fourth, seventh and ninth holes. On his way back, Shrestha parred all the holes except for a birdie on the 12th to sign off a bogey-free first round.

In all, 48 golfers—36 pros and 12 amateurs—are competing in the tournament organised by Nepal Professional Golfers Aassociation. The cut will be applied after the second round on Tuesday with top 24 pros and six amateurs to make it to the money-making final two rounds. The most lucrative of all the eight Surya Nepal Golf Tour events, Premier Golf Championship offers a total of Rs 1.2 million in prize money. Top three professional golfers will receive Rs 220,000, Rs 134,000 and Rs 90,000 respectively. All the other pros to make the cut for the final two rounds are also assured of their share of cash rewards.