Melbourne, Jan 16: Avani Prashanth picked two birdies against one lone bogey towards the end of her first nine to be 1-under 72 at Keysborough Golf Club and was tied seventh after the first round of the Australian Amateur Championships.
Avani, runner-up at the Australian Masters of Amateurs last week, is three shots behind leader Aina Fujimoto (69) at 4-under.
Sandeep Yadav, the 2023 Indian National champion, opened with a steady start of 1-under 71 at Keysborough Golf Club as the Indian Golf Union’s team had mixed results on the first day.
The players are playing at two courses, with the par for the women at Keysborough being Par-73 and for men it is 72. At Yarra Yarra, it is Par-70 both men and women.
Among women four players including last week’s winner, Rianne Mikhaela Malixi were tied second at three under each at one of the most prestigious amateur events, where men and women play together.
Amelia Whinney is sole sixth and four players including Avani are tied at seventh.
The leader in the men’s section was Australia’s Kai Komulainen who shot 6-under 64 at Yarra Yarra and led by one over Mitchell Kale of New Zealand who carded 5-under 67 at Keysborough.
Among the other Indians playing in Australia this week, Heena Kang with 78 was T-60 in women’s section, while in the men’s section Varun Muthappa (74) was T-83 and Rohit Narwal (78) was T-165.
Avani starting from the tenth birdied the Par-3 15th and added a second bridie on Par-5 17th but dropped a shot on Par-5 18th. On her second nine, the front side of the course, she parred each of the nine holes.
Sandeep Yadav opened the week with a birdie on the 10th, where he started, and added one more on 13th. However, a double bogey on Par-4 16th and a bogey on Par-4 18th with a birdie in between on Par-5 17th saw him turn in even par. On the second nine he birdied the first, dropped shots on second and fifth but closed with back-to-back birdies.
Indian scores:
Women: T-7 Avani Prashanth 72 (-1) at Par-73 Keysborough; T-60 Heena Kang 80 (+7) at Par-73 Keysborough
Men: T-10 Sandeep Yadav 71 (-1) at Par-72 Keysborough; T-83 Varun Muthappa 74 (+4) at Yarra Yarra; T-165 Rohit Narwal 78 (+8) at Par-70 Yarra Yarra.
