In-form Bahuguna captures maiden title

Kolkata, June 23 Although it was the final round of the Coimbatore Amateur Open, it seemed it was a fight amongst two ONGC players as Saurabh Bahuguna and Vikram Rana fought tooth and nail until the 14th hole before a mistake by the latter helped Saurabh seal the issue and grab his maiden title on the Indian Amateur Golf Tour in Coimbatore last weekend.

Saurabh carded a final round of 2-over 74 for a four-day total of 11-over 299 and walked away as the victor by five shots.

Vikram had to settle for the second place along with HS Kang at 305. Gagan Verma was firuth at 306 while Moin Malak and Tarun Ghogale were tied for the fifth place at 309. Abhinav Lohan produced the day’s best card of 1-under 71 to finish seventh with an overall total of 310. Simarjeet Singh and Pritam Haridass were tied for the eight place at 311 while No.1 Abhishek Jha finished 10th at 312.

Saurabh who began the day three shots ahead of Vikram increased his lead when Vikram faltered on the very first hole making a bogey while Saurabh himself made a birdie on the par-3 fourth. To add to the woe, Vikram made a double bogey on the same hole.

However, things changed when Vikram saved shots on the fifth and sixth and the ninth while making a bogey on the seventh. Saurabh meanwhile himself made a bogey on the fifth and a double bogey on the par-3 seventh as the difference was reduced to two strokes after the first nine.

Then came the par-5 13th which changed the entire equation. Saurabh was trapped in the water hazard in an attempt to reach the green in two. He made a superb chip and the ensuing 10-feet putt to save a brilliant par. Vikram missed on a birdie from very short range. Playing with a renewed confidence, Saurabh parred the par-3 14th while Vikram bogeyed as the lead increased to three strokes.

In an attempt to catch up, Vikram lost three shots in a space of two holes – 16th and 17th (double bogey) for Saurabh to walk away with the victory as the champion signed off with a sweet birdie on the 18th.

Top scores after 54 holes: 299 Saurabh Bahuguna (76, 73, 76, 74); 305 Vikram Rana (76, 75, 77, 77), HS Kang (75, 75, 79, 76); 306 Gagan Verma (77, 75, 78, 76); 309 Moin Malak (75, 79, 73, 82), Tarun Ghogale (76, 76, 84, 73); 310 Abhinav Lohan (76, 84, 79, 71); 311 Simarjeet Singh (78, 76, 79, 78), Pritam Haridass (81, 77, 76, 77); 312 Abhishek Jha (77, 82, 76, 77); 313 L Selvadurai (81, 82, 75, 75), Rahul Bajaj (75, 81, 81, 76), Samaresh Sardar (77, 78, 77, 81); 314 BR Raja (77, 83, 79, 75); 315 Siddharth Sharma (81, 79, 76, 79), Arshdeep Tiwana (77, 75, 82, 81).