Aditi Ashok and Astha Madan made erratic starts but still shared the lead after the opening round of the IGU-NR Group Ladies and Junior Girls Golf Championship here on Sunday.
Playing at the JWGC course for the first time, the entire field struggled to come to terms with the conditions and the scores bore a direct reflection of their difficulties. Astha and Aditi managed to card three-over 73 to hold a one-shot lead over Amandeep Drall and Arushi Pandey while Vidushi Sinha and Vrishali Sinha were tied for the fifth spot at 76.
Aditi, who endured a rare disppointment last week at the KGA, appeared to be the only player comfortable with the course before bogeying the pa-4 seventh.
The back-nine was much bumpier, bogeying the 11th, making it up with a birdie on the 13th before dropping shots on the 15th and 16th holes.
On the other hand, Astha made a torrid start before staging a recovery on the inward journey. She dropped shots on the first, second, sixth and eighth holes to lie four-over at the turn. She, however, showed good composure, picking up a birdie on the 11th, bogeying the 15th and then birdieing the 15th to end the round on par with Aditi.
Leading scores (after 18 holes): 73: Astha Madan, Aditi Ashok; 74: Amandeep Drall, Arushi Pandey; 76: Vidushi Sinha, Vrishali Sinha.
Category A: 73: Aditi Ashok; 76: Vidushi Sinha, Vrishali Sinha; 78: Seher Atwal; 80: Seher Atwal, Gaurika Bishnoi. Category B: 74: Arushi Pandey; 84: Sifat Sagoo, Akshitha Singh, Arshia Mahant, Dolma Rawat.
Category C: 77: Vasundhara Thiara; 81: Pranavi S Urs; 84: Anika Varma.
Deccan Herald is on WhatsApp Channels| Join now for Breaking News & Editor's Picks