13 September 2019: On a day of plentiful joy at the Classic Golf & Country Club, the Indian flag fluttered merrily as the CGCC International Championship reached the halfway mark. Seven of the fourteen men inside the top ten were Indians, with Abhijit Chadha leading the charge with a brilliant 65, that included seven birdies in a nine-hole stretch. He leads by one over Aman Raj, who shot a second straight 67 to move to 10-under through 36 holes.
Starting off the back nine, Abhijit took off on a sedate march, making par on his first eight holes. The first birdie of the day came at the 18th, just before he made the turn. It was a lucky break too. An errant drive off the tee ricocheted off the trees lining the fairway before dropping back nicely for Abhijit.
He went on a tearing rampage from there, coming home in just 30 strokes, laced with six birdies between the first and eighth holes. “I am really happy to be in this position. I am really confident and playing well, so looking forward to my next two rounds,” said a delighted Abhijit.
“I’m happy with the overall score but ending with a bogey always pinches you especially on a par-five when I had a hybrid in my hand on the fairway. But this is golf and you have to take it and move forward.
“All in all, I’m in a good position going into the weekend rounds and I just need to keep doing what I’ve been doing and see what happens on Sunday,” said Raj.
The low score of the day was put on the board by American Nicholas Latimer, who produced a bogey-free 64. He took just 31 strokes for the back nine, with the aid of five birdies.
Ankur Chadha and S Chikkarangappa shot 68 and 67 respectively to bring the rear end of the top ten at 7-under. Aadil Bedi and Rashid Khan were at nine-under while Abhinav Lohan was at 7-under with a few holes still to go.
