Gaurika Bishnoi fed off some great memories from her last win at the Clover Greens in Hosur to shoot 4-under 68 at the same venue and take the first round lead in the eighth leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour 2023. Gaurika, a multiple winner on the Hero WPG Tour, won the title when the Tour last came to Clover Greens in 2019.
Gaurika, starting the day promisingly with birdies on second and third, did drop a shot on third but was playing steady. She got another birdie on Par-3 eighth to turn in 2-under. On the back nine, birdies on 11th and 13th were followed by a bogey on 14th, but back-to-back birdies on 16th and 17th saw her rise to 5-under. An unfortunate bogey on the closing 18th pulled her back to 4-under.
Related: Final-hole birdie ends Vani Kapoor’s three-year wait on WGAI
Seher Atwal indicated how much she had gained from the experience of going to the Ladies European Tour events, as she played solid with four birdies against one bogey for a 69 and was sole second.
Four players, including two amateurs, and two other young stars indicated Indian women’s golf’s good progress as they were tied third with 1-under 71 each. The four were amateurs Keerthana Reddy and Saanvi Somu, with young pros Hitaashee Bakshi and Sachika Singh.
Kriti Chowhan and Jasmine Shekar were tied seventh with even par 72 each, while things did not go as well for Sneha Singh, a two-time winner this year. Sneha she was Tied-ninth with a round of 73. It was an up-and-down ride for Sneha, who had six birdies, but also gave away five bogeys and a double bogey. Tied at ninth with Sneha were Anisha Agarwalla and amateur Ayushi Dutta, who shot 73 each.
Seasoned Tvesa Malik had a rough start with four-over 76 that included a double bogey on Par-4 third hole and a quadruple bogey on Par-3 fourth hole.
