Royal Nepal Golf Club (RNGC) pro Shrestha registered a four-stroke win over Surya Sharma in the championship played at the Gokarna Golf Club.[break]
Shrestha carded two-over 74 on the final day to complete the 54-hole tournament with one-under 215 while Sharma produced one-under 71 card to finish second at three-over 219.
Toran Bikram Shahi, who played a round of one-over 73 on Friday, remained on the third place with the total score of 221.
Out of the total cash purse of Rs 500,000, the top three pros received Rs 110,000, Rs 72,000 and Rs 54,000 respectively.
Shrestha started the final day with a seven-stroke lead and made a good start as he completed the front nine at one-under 35. He saved pars on the first eight holes before carding a birdie on the ninth hole. On the back nine, Shrestha suffered a double bogey on the 11th hole of par-5.
He, then, shot a birdie on hole 12 but again dropped shots on hole 15 and 17.
Sharma carded birdies on first and ninth holes against a lone bogey on the fourth hole to finish the front nine at one-under 35. After taking the turn, he saved a shot on 13th and dropped one on the next hole to finish the back at even-par 36.
Shrestha expressed his delight over winning the title but simultaneously said that he could not perform up to his own expectation. “Before the tournament, I had set a target of finishing the tournament with a score of around eight or nine-under,” said Shrestha.
“Putting remained a problem for me during the tournament,” he added.
“I won the trophy, as my opponents could not put pressure on me in the difficult course condition,” said Shrestha.
Rabi Khadka and Ramesh Nagarkoti, who shot four-over 76 on Friday, shared the fourth position with the score of nine-over 225. The duo earned Rs 36,500 each. CB Bhandari played a round of even-par 72 for a total of 226 to finish sixth and received Rs 25,000.
Ramesh Adhikari, who shot 76 for the third consecutive day, came seventh at 228. Sanjay Lama, Ram Thapa and Deepak Thapa Magar shared eighth position with the total score of 229.
In Amateur section, Tashi Tsering claimed the trophy with the total score of six-over 222. Tsering carded two-over 74 on the final day to register a 12-stroke victory over Bikash Bogati. Bogati shot 74 for the three-day total of 234.
CMS Open, the seventh event under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2011-12, was sponsored by the International Society for Medical Education (ISME) Pvt Ltd. The tournament was the biggest local professional golf event of the Nepal PGA with prize purse of Rs 500,000.
According to hosts, the prize ceremony of the tournament, which featured 27 pros and 21 amateurs, will be held at the Gokarna Golf Club on Sunday.
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