Arjun Dahiya takes lead in IGU Andhra Pradesh Junior Golf Championship
Arjun Dahiya shot a bogey-free two-under 70 to take a one-shot lead in Category A on day two of the IGU Andhra Pradesh Junior Boys Golf Championship in Visakhapatnam. Ishnidh Virdi and Vihaan Jain remained close behind after 36 holes
Hyderabad: A bogey-free two-under 70 handed Arjun Dahiya a one-shot lead in Category ‘A’ (15-17 years) on day two of the IGU Andhra Pradesh Junior Boys Golf Championship at the East Point Golf Club in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday.
A second straight 70 took the 16-year-old’s two-day aggregate to four-under 140. Bengaluru’s Ishnidh Virdi returned a one-under 71 card to occupy the tied second spot with overnight leader Vihaan Jain at three-under 141. The latter lost his way on the back nine, dropping four shots for a two-over 74.
Chaitanya Pandey (70) was one shot behind in fourth place. Order of Merit leader Harjai Milkha Singh (73) was three shots further back at one-over 145.
Dahiya was in fine form from the start. He demonstrated high accuracy off the tee with solid drives and hit his approaches well to give himself plenty of birdie opportunities. However, a cold putter prevented him from converting three early birdie chances. He suffered a frustrating lip-out on the 12th hole, missed a manageable birdie putt from 15 feet away on the 15th and failed to drain a 20-footer on the 17th hole.
A 10th-tee starter, Dahiya picked up a shot on the 11th, nearly scoring a hole-in-one with his pitching wedge tee shot. After missing several opportunities to pick up shots, the Gurgaon teen drained a 10-foot left-to-right curler on the seventh for his second birdie.
Virdi, who got off to a poor start, turned things around on his back nine to stay close to the leader. Two over after nine holes, the Bengalurean birdied the first, sixth and seventh holes for a 71.
In Category ‘B’ (13-14), Pandey took his two-day total to two-under 142 for a massive nine-shot lead over Aditya Misra (78).
Delhi’s Shan Alvi (75) led the Category ‘C’ (11-12) field by three shots at five-over 149.
Leading scores (after 36 holes):
Category ‘A’ (15-17 years): 140: Arjun Dahiya (Har, 70, 70); 141: Ishnidh Virdi (Kar, 70, 71), Vihaan Jain (Del, 67, 74); 142: Chaitanya Pandey (Del, 72, 70); 145: Harjai Milkha Singh (Chd, 72, 73); 146: Shashank Sachin Gadre (Mah, 72, 74).
Category ‘B’ (13-14): 142: Chaitanya Pandey (Del, 72, 70); 153: Aditya Misra (Del, 75, 78); 154: Aman Oswal (Mah, 72, 82); 155: Saatvic Kumar Singh (Tel, 78, 77), Jaibir Singh Kang (Har, 77, 78).
Category ‘C’ (11-12): 149: Shan Alvi (Del, 74, 75); 152: Drona Singh Dhull (Har, 76, 76); 160: Kabir Sachdev (Har, 84, 76), Vivaan Singh (Kar, 81, 80).
