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07 September 2022
*Image (L) Kriti Chowhan (C) Vidhatri Urs (R) Pranavi Urs
Amateurs Kriti Chowhan and Vidhatri Urs hogged the spotlight as they shared the opening day honours with top pro Pranavi Urs in the 12th Leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour here on Tuesday.
The trio shot 2-under 68 each and held a one-shot advantage over Anisha Agarwalla (69). Another amateur, Keerthana R Nair was tied fifth alongside Seher Atwal with a round of even par 70.
The Jaipur-based Kriti, has played frequently on the Hero Women’s Pro Tour and even finished in Top-3 overall last year. She was the runner-up at the All-India Ladies Amateurs in November 2021, where she lost to top amateur Avani Prashanth in the final. She also took part in the Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship in Abu Dhabi. She has finished consistently well on the domestic Tour but of late wins have eluded her.
Kriti made ample use of the morning conditions to shoot a fine 2-under 68. She had five birdies against three bogeys, two of them on fourth and fifth, which played rather difficult and most of the players bogeyed either one of them or both.
The highlight of the round was a hat-trick of birdies from sixth to eighth, immediately after the back-to-back bogeys. She dropped a late bogey on Par-4 18th. She was later joined by this season’s four-time winner Pranavi and her cousin Vidhatri.
The leader of the Hero Order of Merit, Pranavi had four birdies in her first eight holes, but also dropped shots on the fourth and fifth. She turned in 2-under 34. She began the back nine in style with an eagle on Par-5 10th, but dropped a double bogey on Par-4 15th and finished with 68.
Vidhatri, who has been steadily improving her game, had four birdies against two bogeys.
Anisha Agarwalla had one of her best rounds in recent weeks with a 69 that included five birdies and four bogeys.
Amateur Heena Kang and Gauri Karhade tied for seventh with scores of 71 each, while last week’s winners Hitaashee Bakshi, Ishvari Prasanna and Shweta Mansingh were tied ninth with 72 each. Sneha Singh had a rough day in her hometown with a round of 73 and Jahanvi Bakshi shot 79.
