Bhandari cracks course record

An inspired Vivek Bhandari blasted an opening round seven-under 65 to claim both the course record and the lead the Rs 700,000 Noida Open golf championship 2001, the ninth leg of the 2001-02 Hero Honda Golf Tour, being played at the par-72, 6,940-yard Noida Golf Course, in Delhi, on Thursday.

Bhandari’s effort bettered the earlier record, a six-under 66 achieved by Lucknow’s Vijay Kumar at the ONGC NGC Open in 1999.

Pappan was placed second four-strokes behind the leader at three-under 69. Kanpur’s Shiv Prakash, who has been out of sorts after a find showing during the southern swing, showed a welcome return to form with his two-under 70 placing him tied-third with Calcutta's Uttam Singh Mundy. Defending champion Mukesh Kumar was tied-fifth with Vinod Kumar (D) and Zai Kipgen, at one-under 71.

Rookie golfer Rahil Gangjee, who won his maiden career title at last week’s HT Pro Golf 2001 – Luckow, played to five-over 77 to occupy the tied-48th spot.

Nobody who saw Vivek Bhandari play on Thursday will associate him with the golfer who roamed about the Delhi Golf Club with a collar around his neck, both getting up and sitting down gingerly and physically though not mentally as far away from the golfing greens as possible. A sever attack of spondylytis was the reason for the talented Delhi Golf Club pro to take a forced exile from the game. One-and-a-half years later, Bhandari is in the thick of things, doling out round after spectacular round of golf on both the Hero Honda Golf Tour and the Davidoff Asian PGA Tour.

"I am playing better than ever before," said the 30-year old Bhandari.

Indeed, despite two modest weeks at China and Malaysia, Bhandari is ranked a high eighth on the Asian Tour. Back home, he has one runner-up and one top place finish in two starts this season, the tournaments in question being the Cotton City Open, Coimbatore and the Hero Honda South, Bangalore.

On Thursday, Bhandari once again grabbed the honours with a fiery display of golf including as many as nine birdies. This despite a double bogey-start to his round.

"I had a poor start. On the very first hole, I lost my ball after my second shot landed in the rough. It was quite mysterious as the ball had trickled just five feet into the rough but could never be found," he said.

"Setting a course record despite that was terrific. I give my hitting all the credit," added the golfer, whose 65 included birdies on the 4th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 14th, 15th, 17th and 18th.

Interestingly, Bnandari's best ever-round is an eight-under 63, at the Mines Golf Course during the Kuala Lumpur Open, where he shares the course record with none other than Tiger Woods.

Pappan has been one of the top ten performers on the Hero Honda Golf Tour this season. Though he has been unable to convert a win, countless are the times when he has assumed the lead. Outdone by Bhandari’s brilliance, Pappan yet occupied the second spot. A first tee starter had a good front-nine with birdies studding his 2nd, 3rd and 6th holes. Another birdie on the 14th was followed by a bogey on the following hole to hand him a card of 69.

"I frequently play the Noida Golf Course, as it is so close to home. This year, the fairways are even better than the last time round and the greens are even-paced which enables one to putt without worrying too much," he said. "I hit the ball pretty close today and that helped me make those birdies," he said.

Simarjeet, Luthra, Bahuguna jointly lead amateurs: Oil India Limited employee Simarjeet Singh was joined by Amit Luthra and Saurav Bahuguna in a three-way amateur lead. The threesome played to one-over 73.

Scores (after 18 holes): 65_Vivek Bhandari; 69_Pappan; 70_Shiv Prakash, Uttam Mundy; 71_Mukesh Kumar, Vinod Kumar (D), Zai Kipgen; 72_Indrajit Bhalotia, Jumman, Rohit Choudhary, Rohtas Singh, Sanjay Kumar; 73_Akbar Ali, Vijay Kumar, Basad Ali, Digvijay Singh, Gaurav Ghei, Manohar Dike, Rajiv Kumar, Ranjit Singh.

Amateurs: 73_Simarjeet Singh, Amit Luthra, Saurav Bahuguna; 76_Jasjeet Singh, Raj Singh, Vikrant Chopra