Ludhiana’s Pukhraj Singh Gill was tied for second as the best-placed Indian after day one of the Bharath Classic 2025 Gujarat at Kensville Golf Resort near Ahmedabad on Thursday. Image courtesy Asian Tour.
By Rahul Banerji
Ahmedabad: Heemin Chang led after day one of the Bharath Classic 2025 Gujarat at Kensville Golf Resort near Ahmedabad on Thursday.
The Korean, who shot an 8 under par 64, was two shots up the road from a four-way tie for second place having played the course for the first time.
Ludhiana’s Pukhraj Singh Gill was the best paced Indian on the day on 6 under 66 alongside Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond and Poosit Supupramai, and Korean Wooyoung Cho, who shot 66s.
The inaugural $500,000 event is jointly sanctioned with the Indian Golf Premier League Tour and is the penultimate tournament of the season on the Asian Tour.
A good few in the field are out to make up ground on the Tour’s Order of Merit to secure playing privileges for next year.
Gill’s 66 was his best on the Asian Tour and came on the back of an aggressive display on the challenging 7,210-yard track.
Aggressive approach
“I played aggressively and used the driver well. Even towards the end I stayed aggressive, because that mindset helped me get my first win recently on the IGPL Tour in Jamshedpur.
“I know this course fairly well. We have quite a few tournaments here. It’s been a good track. They’ve had Challenge Tour events in the past, and a lot of main PGTI events. So yes, I think that definitely helped.
“I was very excited for this week, because Asian Tour is back in India after quite some time, and to have it at Kensville is pretty damn good.”
Added event leader Chang, 127th on the Asian Tour’s merit list “It’s a good result, as it’s my first time here.
“The greens were slower than I expected but I adapted well, and my course management was good.
“My game has been good lately. It is my first time in India, I came for the experience, I came to win.”
High stakes
A win would most secure his playing rights for next year in the space of one tournament. It’s the goal of everyone here this week.
Overall, it was a good day for the home challenge with Ajeetesh Sandhu, Udayan Mane, Sachin Baisoya and amateur Ishaan Chawhan shooting 67s each to be tied for sixth along with Indian-American Varun Chopra.
Saptak Talwar, who has divided his time between the HotelPlanner Tour and the PGTI was 3 under 69 as were veteran Naman Dawar, Sudhir Sharma and Gaurav Pratap Singh in a big bunch tied for 17th.
Also read: Stage set for Bharat Classic Gujarat as Asian Tour returns to India
Related
Discover more from Tee Time Tales
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.