Ribhav Verma shines with bogey-free 66 in IGU Hyderabad Amateur Golf Championship

Ribhav Verma shot a bogey-free six-under 66 to lead the IGU Hyderabad Amateur Golf Championship at Boulder Hills. The 18-year-old from Panchkula holds a two-shot lead over Anshul Mishra, with Parth Raman Sood in third place

Hyderabad: Promising Ribhav Verma shot a sizzling bogey-free six-under 66 to hit the front on a scorching opening day of the IGU Hyderabad Amateur Golf Championship at the Boulder Hills Golf & Country Club here on Tuesday.

The 18-year-old from Panchkula made light of the extreme heat to take a two-shot lead over Anshul Mishra (68) in the season’s third event. Parth Raman Sood was third, one stroke further back at three-under and one ahead of the duo of Om Paldhikar and Vinamra Anand, the winner of the season opener.

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Ribhav, playing his first full season on the amateur circuit, looked calm and composed, taking it one shot and one hole at a time. On a tight course where the focus was on accuracy rather than distance, Ribhav was spot on with his game.

He resorted to a percentage game and was less aggressive off the tee. The teenager’s approaches were immaculate, leaving him short birdie putts. The longest putt was a 12-footer on the par-5 18th.

A 10th tee starter, he missed a 12-foot putt for an eagle on the 14th hole, but settled for a birdie. After being two-under at the turn, he picked up shots on the first, par-3 third, where he hit his tee shot to two feet, fourth and sixth holes for his 66.

Mishra, winner of the previous tournament, began with a double bogey on the opening hole. But the youngster quickly got his game back on track for an impressive four-under 68.

Leading scores (after 18 holes):
66: Ribhav Verma; 68: Anshul Mishra; 69: Parth Raman Sood; 70: Om Paldhikar, Vinamra Anand; 71: Sunil S; 72: Adit Ahluwalia, Deepak Yadav, Arun Ahuja, Ranveer Mitroo, Kritansh Kapoor, Gurmanjit Singh Dhillon.