Kathmandu, June 17: Bhuvan Nagarkoti maintained the lead after the second round of the Surya Nepal Premier Golf Championship, the eighth and final event under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2025-26, at the par-72 Gokarna Golf Club on Wednesday.
Bhuvan carded a 4-under 68 on the second day for a 36-hole total of 13-under 131. He is two strokes ahead of top amateur Sadbhav Acharya, who carded 6-under 66 for 11-under 133 total. Subash Tamang and Sukra Bahadur Rai are tied for third at 8-under 136. Subash fired a 5-under 67, and Sukra carded a 4-under 68 on the second day.
Three amateur golfers hold fifth- to seventh positions on the leaderboard. Defending champion Rahul Bishwakarma climbed to fifth at 6-under 138 after he carded 4-under 68. Tenzing Tsering is next at 5-under 139 after an even-par 72, while Wangchen Dhondup is seventh at 3-under 131 after he also carded a 72.
Pros Sanjay Lama and Toran Bikram Shahi are tied for eighth at 2-under 142. Sanjay carded 4-under 68 to climb up the leaderboard, while Toran played 2-over 74. Dinesh Prajapati is 10th at 1-under 143 after he shot 2-over 74.
Cut fell at 6-over 150, with 18 pros and seven amateur golfers making it to the final two rounds. Pros Ramesh Adhikari, Niraj Tamang, Bhuwan Kumar Rokka, Dhana Bahadur Thapa, Jayram Shrestha, Purna Prasad Sharma, Rajendra Thapa Magar, Bal Bhadra Rai, Rupak Acharya, Sanjeev Bahadur Nepali, Surya Prasad Sharma and Suman Pariyar survived the cut.
Meanwhile, Sadbhav Acharya took sole lead in the amateur section. He was tied with Tenzing Tsering and Norbu Tsering Sherpa on first day, and he opened up a five-stroke lead over Rahul Bishwakarma. Tenzing slipped to third, while Wangchen is fourth. Ritesh Tamang, Norbu Tsering Sherpa, and Soham Agrawal also made the cut after the second round.
Leader Bhuvan carded birdies on first and third holes in a bogey-free 2-under 34 on the front nine. After the turn, he faced first bogey of the tournament on the 10th hole before carding birdies on the 11th, 14th and 15th holes for another 2-under 34.
Sadbhav carded 3-under 33 on both halves. He carded four birdies on the second, third, fourth and seventh holes before dropping a shot on the eighth hole. He added four more birdies on the 10th, 12th, 16th and 18th holes and faced a bogey on the 14th hole.
Subash fired a superb 5-under 31 on the back nine after taking the turn at even-par 36. He faced bogeys on second and eighth holes against birdies on sixth and ninth holes before the turn. He carded seven birdies on the 10th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 17th and 18th holes but he faced a double bogey on the par-5 11th hole.
Sukra carded five birdies on the second, third, seventh, eighth and ninth holes against a bogey on the sixth hole for 4-under 32. He then saved pars on all nine holes after the turn.
A total of 68 golfers, including 46 pros and 22 amateurs, are taking part in the flagship event of the Surya Nepal Golf Tour. The tournament carries a record cash purse of Rs 1.8 million.
The winner will walk away with Rs 320,000, while the runner-up will receive Rs 206,000. The third, fourth and fifth-place finishers will earn Rs 162,000, Rs 145,000 and Rs 128,000, respectively.
All pros finishing inside the top 18 will take home prize money.
