Gary Player opened the proceedings with the ceremonial tee-off at The DGC Open. Soon, it was business as usual at the club's Lodhi course with the leaderboard packed with names of local hopefuls. The affable, ever-smiling Shankar Das shared the lead with Australian Travis Smyth on 5-under 67, with Veer Ahlawat a step behind.
A further stroke behind in fifth and tied positions were Ajeetesh Sandhu who had been there, done that, and Karandeep Kochhar looking for his big break.
Varun Parikh was tied-7th while six more Indians including Shiv Kapur and Shamim Khan were bunched in a group of 13 with tied-9th status.
Kolkatan Das found his hitting and putting strong to set the benchmark on the opening day of the $500,000 event. He was proud of his 3-wood. "I have practised a lot with that club for DGC, and actually I was good a t the tees today," the 39-year-old said. With a flawless front-nine dotted with four birdies, Das dropped a shot after the turn to regain one immediately before another birdie on the par-4 13th. There was a lull of pars before he walked off, staying confident at 5-under.
New South Wales golfer Travis Smyth got his first taste of the course and there was no surprise when he wondered "if it was the tightest course in the world."
The blond pony-tailed golfer left his driver in the hotel room and was happy that his iron play worked on a layout that demanded so. With eagles at a premium on the Player-redeveloped course, he entertained with one of the day's three.
Starting on the 10th tee, it was a "momentum-changer" on the par-5 15th. "It really got the round going through it still wasn't easy out there." There was "high anxiety" as the wind started to swirl a bit but he delivered off and on the greens. "The greens were a little tricky as it wasn't going with the grain so reading it right was key."
A consistent performer on PGTI, afternoon starter Ahlawat even tried to avoid his 3-wood, playing smart golf to hit close to the pins. He admitted with a few years of experience, he was feeling more relaxed on the Tour. "I think that's helping me a little bit."
Ajeetesh kept in touch but was understandably frustrated when he didn't get a rub of the green. "I hit it quite well but didn't really take full advantage of the good positions I put myself in, but at the end of the day if you break 70 at DGC, always happy."
