Rame Magar took a one-stroke lead over amateur golfer Sadbhav Acharya on the opening day of the Surya Nepal Challenge, the fifth event under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2023-24 at the par-68 Royal Nepal Golf Club on Monday.

Magar carded 3-under 65 to stay at the top of the leaderboard. Amateur golfer and defending champion Acharya carded 2-under 66. Former Nepal number one pro Bhuvan Nagarkoti and Dhana Bahadur Thapa shared the third place at one-under 67. Tanka Bahadur Karki is fifth at even-par 68.

Rabi Khadka is sixth at 1-over 69, while Ramesh Adhikari, Surya Prasad Sharma and Dinesh Prajapati are tied for seventh at 2-over 70. Four pros Pashupati Sharma, Jayram Shrestha, Deepak Magar and Toran Bikram Shahi and two amateur golfers Rahul BK and Tashi Tsering shared the 10th place at 3-over 71.

Leader Magar carded 3-under 31 on the front nine and played even-par 34 on the back nine. He carded birdies on the first, second and fourth holes before taking the turn. Magar marched to 6-under with birdies on the 10th, 12th and 13th holes but he dropped three shots on two holes before suffering a double bogey on the 16th hole and dropped a shot on the final hole.

Amateur Acharya carded 3-under 31 on the front nine but played 1-over 35 on the back nine. He carded birdies on the first two holes before dropping a shot on the sixth hole. Defending champion Acharya then added two consecutive birdies on the seventh and eighth holes. After taking the turn, Acharya faced four bogeys on the 12th, 14th, 15th and 17th holes against three birdies on the 11th, 13th and 16th holes.

Winner of the previous event Surya Nepal Western Open, Nagarkoti took the turn at 2-under 32 after he carded birdies on the fourth and fifth holes. He then played 1-over 35 on the back nine. After carding a birdie on the 10th hole, Nagarkoti dropped shots on the 13th and 16th holes.

Thapa played 2-over 36 on the front nine and carded 3-under 31 on the back nine. He faced three bogeys on the second, fifth and seventh holes before carding a birdie on the ninth hole. After taking the turn, Thapa carded four birdies on the 10th, 11th, 13th and 15th holes before facing a bogey on the 17th hole.

Karki carded 2-under 32 on the front nine and played 2-over 36 on the back nine. He faced a bogey on the first hole before carding birdies on the third, fifth and ninth holes. After taking the turn, Karki carded a birdie on the 10th hole and faced three bogeys on the 15th, 17th and 18th holes.

A total of 42 golfers—31 pros and 11 amateurs—are taking part in the 72-hole tournament. Cut will be applied after 36 holes. A total of 21 top scoring professionals with the ties (if any) and amateurs who make the professional cut will make it to the final 36 holes.

The event carries a total purse of Rs572,250. The winner will bag a cheque of Rs100,000, runner-up will take home Rs67,000 and third place finisher will earn Rs48,000. Likewise, the fourth-placed golfer will earn Rs40,000 and fifth-placed will get Rs36,000. Other pros in the top 21 will also receive their share of cash prizes.