Mumbai: Two sets of back-to-back birdies helped Hitaashee Bakshi take a one-shot lead after the first round of the second leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club.
Hitaashee, who has not won since the 2022 season when she won three times, had five birdies against two bogeys, one on each side of the Par-70 BPGC course.
Trailing Hitaashee were Amandeep Drall, Sneha Singh and Ridhima Dilawari, who carded 2-under 68 each, while the only other under par score came from amateur Vidhatri Urs (69).
Hitaashee, after finishing third on the Hero Order of Merit in 2022, played only nine events in 2023 when she also had an injury. Now she seems to be finding her rhythm once again. She was tied for second last week when amateur Nishna Patel won the title.
Hitaashee bogeyed the third, but got the shot back on the fourth and had back-to-back birdies on sixth and seventh and she repeated that again on 14th and 15th, but after a dropped shot on par-4 11th.
Sneha Singh, also tied second last week, had three birdies against one bogey, and Amandeep Drall had the same. Both Sneha and Amandeep dropped shots on par-4 ninth, their only blemish of the day.
Ridhima Dilawari came back bogey free, but with only one birdie on either side of the course.
Disha Kavery (70) was sole sixth, while Neha Tripathi, Khushi Khanijau and Taniya Balasuriya, were tied seventh at 1-over 71 each. Rhea Jha and amateur Mannat Brar were Tied 10th with cards of 2-over 72 each.
Experienced Vani Kapoor had a rough start with 6-over 76, as did Seher Atwal and they were tied at 21st place.
Last week’s winner, amateur Nishna Patel had a disappointing round of 7-over 77 and was way down in T-26th place.
–IANS