Tied for the second place at one-over 68 are Tham Bahadur Rai, Deepak Thapa Magar, Sachin Bhattarai, Sanjay Lama along with two amateurs Dinesh Prajapati and Bikash Bogati. [break]
Five golfers -- Surya Prasad Sharma, Deepak Acharya, amateur Ashish Pariyar, Toran Bikram Shahi and Nepal No 1 pro Shiva Ram Shrestha -- shared the eighth position at two-over 69. Three others -- Prasanna Upreti, Rabi Khadka and Jaya Ram Shrestha -- were tied for 13th at 70.
Tashi took the turn at three-under 30 with the help of birdies on the fourth, seventh and eighth holes. On the back nine, he played one-over 35 that included a lone birdie on the 10th hole against bogeys on the 11th and 15th holes. Tashi was the only player with under-par round card on the first day.
Altogether 50 players -- 29 pros and 21 amateurs -- are taking part in the seventh event under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2012-13. The tournament is the largest in the domestic circuit in terms of cash prize, which amounts to Rs 500,000.
The top three pros will receive Rs 100,000, Rs 72,000 and Rs 54,000 respectively. Others in the top 21 who make the cut after the second round will also receive cash prizes.
Amateurs making the pro cut will qualify for the third and final round of the tournament sponsored by International Society for Medical Education (ISME) Pvt Ltd.
Tashi Tsering wins Nepal Amateur Golf title