Panchkula: Tricity lad Jairaj Singh Sandhu shot a first-round score of six-under 66 to take the lead at the INR 1 crore Haryana Open 2023 presented by Wonder Cement being played at the Panchkula Golf Club.
Rahil Gangjee, Samarth Dwivedi and Abhinav Lohan were tied for second place with matching scores of 67.
Besides Jairaj, the other Tricity golfers in the top 10 were Aadil Bedi, Akshay Sharma and Amandeep Johl, all placed tied fifth at 68.
Southpaw Jairaj Singh Sandhu made a terrific start with birdies on the 10th and 11th, driving the green on the latter and a 20-feet eagle conversion on the 12th. The 26-year-old from Chandigarh then went on to add three more birdies and a bogey to his card.
Jairaj said, “This course is like a second home course to me because I play here quite often so I’m quite familiar with the conditions here and that helped me in today’s round. The Panchkula Golf Club has done an outstanding job to get the course in great shape for this event despite the damage done by the heavy rains during the monsoon.
“The key for me today was being patient and not getting carried away despite the great start I had as I was four-under through the first three holes. It’s easy to get ahead of yourself in such situations but I didn’t let that happen.”
