Navi Mumbai, Dec 16 (IANS) India’s Veer Ahlawat, who won on the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) two weeks back, continued his consistent form with a six-under 65 that gave him a two-shot lead on Day One of the INR 1 crore CIDCO Open 2025, the first-ever professional event being played at the Kharghar Valley Golf Course (KVGC) in Navi Mumbai.

With the first-ever competitive round being played at the KVGC on Tuesday, Gurugram-based Veer’s 65 will count as the course record. Italy’s Michele Ortolani and American Koichiro Sato shot scores of four-under 67 at the Par-71 course to occupy tied second position.

There were two more foreign players in the top eight as Uganda’s Joshua Seale and Sri Lankan N. Thangaraja were tied fourth with scores of 68, along with the Indian trio of Manoj S, Dhruv Sheoran, and Manu Gandas.

Dipankar Kaushal (69) and Mani Ram (75) fired holes-in-one to be tied 10th and tied 69th, respectively. Mani Ram, who scored the first hole-in-one at the new venue, had his moment of glory on the 17th hole, while Dipankar achieved the feat on the third hole in the City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Limited (CIDCO) Open.

Veer Ahlawat, a 10th-tee starter on Tuesday, got some early momentum with a three-foot birdie conversion on the 12th and a 20-foot eagle conversion on the 14th. The 29-year-old Veer, taking full advantage of his long-hitting prowess on a course suited for long hitters, made further strides with birdie tap-ins on the first and second holes. Ahlawat drained a 15-footer for his last birdie of the day on the fourth.

“I’ve been feeling good about my game since returning to play on the PGTI in October. I’ve had good results, including a victory. This course suits my game as I feel three out of the four Par-5s are reachable in two shots, while a couple of Par-4s are drivable distance for me. However, coming from colder weather at last week’s event in Delhi, one needs to adapt quickly to the warmer conditions here. I enjoyed my first competitive round here at KVGC and feel it’s a great layout,” Ahlawat said.

–IANS

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