Sharmila Nicollet grabs the lead at Delhi Golf Club

September 09, 2015: Bengaluru golfer Sharmila Nicollet played a level par round to grab the early lead in the 16th Leg of the Hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour at the Delhi Golf Club here on Wednesday. In second place, adrift by one stroke is veteran Smriti Mehra at 1 over 73. The INR 6,00,000 event will culminate on 11th September.

Hero MotoCorp Sponsored Sharmila Nicollet started cautiously, carding two birdies on the 8th and 9th holes while dropping a shot on the 4th. She dropped three more shots on the 11th, 16th and 18th holes in her back nine but an eagle on the 14th was enough to her secure a one stroke advantage over Smriti Mehra. This was Sharmila’s first eagle of the season.

Kolkata’s Smriti Mehra had a shaky start and carded a bogey on the 1st hole and added another on the 4th in her front nine. A lone birdie on the 6th hole helped her gain some control. Her back nine was a mixed bag as she carded two birdies on the 12th and 14th holes along with an equal number of bogies on the 13th and 16th.

Local player Gauri Monga and amateur Tvesa Malik are tied for the third spot with identical totals of 2 over 74 after the first day’s play. Gauri played a birdie-less front nine with bogies on the 2nd and 8th holes. She played with much more aggression in her back nine, carding three birdies on the 11th, 14th and 18th , holes while dropping a shot on the 17th . She also carded a double on the 16th. Amateur Tvesa Malik carded four birdies on the 2nd, 3rd, 9th and 12th holes along with three bogies on the 6th, 10th and 17th holes. She could have finished much higher but a triple bogey on the 15th meant that she had to be content with a tied third finish.

Panchkula’s Amandeep Drall, Kapurthala’s Gursimar Badwal and amateur Diksha Dagar returned with identical scores of 5 over 77 to end tied fifth. Amandeep’s card included four birdies on the 5th, 7th, 9th and 13th holes along with bogies on the 2nd and 15th. She also carded two double bogies on the 10th and 14th holes, along with a triple on the 3rd. Gursimar Badwal carded three birdies on the 2nd, 9th and 14th holes while dropping shots on the 6th, 7th, 15th and 18th holes. Her card also included two double bogies on the 1st and 11th holes. Amateur Diksha Dagar carded birdies on the 1st and 18th holes along with bogies on the 4th and 9th holes. She also had a double and a triple bogey on the 3rd and 15th holes respectively.

Delhi’s Ankita Tiwana played a birdie-less round of 6 over 78 to take the eighth spot. Amateur Tavleen Batra finished in ninth place with a score of 7 over 79 followed by Vani Kapoor, Saaniya Sharma, Pallavi Jain and Nikki Ponappa at tied 10th position with identical totals of 8 over 80.