Sharmila takes day's honour

The 16-year-old from Bangalore leads the field by three-strokes after the first round

MUMBAI: Sharmila Nicolllet, the zero handicapper 16-year-old from Bangalore, found herself at the top of the leader board, leading by three-strokes after the first round of the WIGA-sponsored 58th Ladies Western India Open Amateur Golf Championships, at the Bombay Presidency Golf Course here on Tuesday.

Sharmila finished the 70-hole course on par with birdies on the 1st, 8th and 16th holes. It was a great start for the talented youngster, who has already won three amateur titles this year (Noida Open, Chandigarh Open and Northern India Open).

Pushing Sharmila for the top slot was US-based Shradhanjali Singh, who also had a good outing (73). Shradhanjali, who had a good front nine, with one birdie and two bogeys, slipped a bit on the back nine as she managed only one birdie but also had three bogeys.

Lying in third place was Nalini Singh from Delhi, who finished with 77. Nalini had a birdie on the 6th and an eagle in the next hole. But her game fell to pieces on the back nine as she finished with 43. She had bogeys on the 10th, 11th and 15th holes, while a double bogey on the 16th and a triple bogey on the17th capped a bad day for her.

“I played very good golf today and was one-under after the first nine holes. A bogey on the 10th spilt my calculations, but the birdie on the 16th helped me level the scores. I will try and play a tighter game tomorrow,” said a confident Sharmila after the day’s play.

The Silver Division was led by local golfer Mita Gowande, who came home in 84 strokes, followed by Pune’s Raksha Phadke (87).