Poona Club Open: Karandeep, Kshitij fire scores of 64 for joint lead in round one

Karandeep Kochhar of Chandigarh and Delhi’s Kshitij Naveed Kaul fired scores of seven-under 64 to end round one as joint leaders at The Poona Club Open, a ₹1 crore event, being played at the Poona Club Golf Course in Pune.

The Delhi duo of Rashid Khan and Saarthak Chhibber produced rounds of six-under 65 to be placed tied third.

Divyansh Dubey, who sank two eagles during his round of 66, was the highest-placed among the Pune-based professionals. Divyansh shared fifth place along with Chandimandir’s Chandarjeet Yadav and Bengaluru’s M Dharma.

Among the prominent names, TATA Steel PGTI Ranking leader Veer Ahlawat carded a 68 to be tied 12th while local favourite Udayan Mane returned a 72 to be tied 60th.

Karandeep Kochhar, who was in great driving form came up with a flawless 64 on Wednesday. Kochhar, converted two short birdie putts on the front-nine before driving the green on the par-4 ninth and rolling in a 15-footer for eagle there. He drove the very next green on the par-4 10thto set up a two-putt for birdie there. The 25-year-old Asian Tour regular thereafter added two more birdies to his card including another 15-feet conversion.

Kshitij Naveed Kaul made eight birdies and a bogey during his opening round.