KATHMANDU, March 26: Dechen Ugyen of Bhutan won the fourth CMS Nepal Open Amateur Golf Championship 2014 at the par-72 Gokarna Golf Club on Wednesday.
Dechen played even-par 72 for the 54-hole total score of one-under 215. He registered a four-stroke victory over Puwit Anupansuebsai of Thailand, who also played even-par 72 for the total of three-over 219. Dechen took the turn at two-under 34 before playing two-over 38 to return with the card of 72. On the front nine, Dechen sank an eagle on the third and added a birdie on the sixth before dropping a shot on the eighth hole. On the back nine, he saved pars on all the holes except for the par-5 12th where he faced a double bogey.
“I had also played in this course two years back during the Faldo Series Nepal Championship,” said Dechen, who had finished runner-up in that event. “My putting was the strong point in this tournament as I wasted very few strokes on the greens,” he added. “I am happy to return back home with the trophy,” Dechen said.
Ekkarat Leksuwan, also from Thailand, came third on count back after he was tied with Sajib Ali of Bangladesh at six-over 222. Leksuwan played two-over 74, while Ali shot 76 in the final round.
Tashi Ghale and Sanjeev CK of Nepal and Dallas Reid of Hong Kong finished as top three players respectively on count back in the nett section after they were tied on 221. Tashi & Sanjeev played five-over 77, while Dallas shot 10-over 82.
Bangladeshi team of Mohammad Nazim and Sajib Ali won the team event title with the total score of five-over 293, while Thailand’s Ekkarat Leksuwan and Puwit Anusuebsai came second at 295 and Indian team of Simarjeet Singh and Ankur Chadha finished third at 296.
In Senior category (above-55yrs), Maj LP Gurung of Pokhara won with the two-day total of 164, while Bhairaja Pandey of Kathmandu finished runner-up at 178.
Tourism and Civil Aviation Secretary Sushil Ghimire, ISME Chairman Nagender K Pampati, President of Nepal Olympic Committee Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan, President of NGA Madhukar Yakthumba among others handed over the prizes to the winners.
The tournament was sponsored by International Society for Medical Studies (ISME) Pvt Ltd, while Gokarna Golf Club, The Yakthumbas, Himalayan Bank, Vinayak Health Care Centre, John Players, N Entertainment, Samsung and Mountain Sports Federation under National Sports Council were the co-sponsors and supporters of the event organised by Nepal Golf Association.
