Hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour 2015 – Leg 1

Vani and Pallavi lead amidst difficult conditions

Ahmedabad, 7 January 2014: On a day where only eight birdies were carded, Vani Kapoor and Pallavi Jain came out on top after the first round of the season opener of the Hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour 2015. Vani and Pallavi, playing in contrasting styles, carded an identical score of 4 over 76, and were closely followed by the Kolkata duo of Neha Tripathi and Smriti Mehra with a score of 5 over 77 and 6 over 78 respectively. The INR 7,00,000 event is being played for the first time at the Kensville Golf Club, Ahmedabad and will culminate on 9^th January.

Delhi’s Vani Kapoor had an indifferent start and carded a double bogey on the 2^nd hole. She added to her woes with two bogies on the 3^rd and 5^th holes. Her lone birdie on the 8^th hole came to her only rescue in the front nine. However, the Hero Order of Merit 2014 winner controlled her game in the back nine and showed nerves of a seasoned professional to grab the lead for the day carding just one more bogey on the 13^th hole. Contrary to Vani, Jaipur golfer Pallavi Jain took a lot of risks and carded four birdies on the day on the 1^st, 2^nd 9^th and 17^th holes, maximum by any golfer. However she also carded eight bogies on the 4^th, 7^th, 8^th, 10^th, 12^th, 14^th, 15^th and 18^th holes. She is tied in the first position with Delhi youngster with an identical score of 4 over 76 after the first round.

Neha Tripathi had a quiet day on the park and played a birdie-less round to card a score of 5 over 77 after 18 holes. She carded bogies on the 1^st, 8^th, 9^th, 11^th and 15^th holes. She is placed third followed by veteran Smriti Mehra. Smriti too struggled with the conditions and played a birdie-less round. She carded six bogies on the 2^nd, 3rd, 4th, 7^th, 13th and 15^th holes. She finished the day with a score of 6 over 78.

Pune’s Shweta Galande is placed fifth with a score of 7 over 79, one stroke ahead of Delhi’s Ankita Tiwana. Kapurthala Golfer, Gursimar Badwal is placed seventh after 18 holes, followed by Chandigarh golfers Saaniya Sharma, Amandeep Drall and Preetinder Kaur.