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India's Guntas Kaur Sandhu carded a one-under 71 at the Royal Wellington Golf Club in the New Zealand capital on Thursday to emerge as the best Indian at tied 17th position after the opening round of the Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific, according to an IGU media release.
The tournament is hosted by The R&A (Royal & Ancient, Scotland), the world governing body for the rules of golf, in association with the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC). Part of the four-member team sent by the Indian Golf Union (IGU), Guntas began on a modest note with a bogey on the first hole before sinking birdies on the third, eighth and 12th holes. But a bogey on the 15th hole pegged her back. She trails the leader, Yunseo Yang of South Korea, by seven strokes. Other Indians in fray, Ananyaa Sood (2-over 74; Tied 42nd), Zara Anand (7-over 79; Tied 66th) and Jia Kataria (9-over 81; Tied 75th) had a disappointing first round. Guntas Kaur Sandhu, ranked 545th in the world, had a remarkable domestic season, winning four times on the IGU circuit, namely the Gujarat Ladies & Junior Girls Amateur, Eastern India Ladies & Junior Girls Amateur, Southern India Ladies & Junior Girls Amateur and the Maharashtra Ladies & Junior Girls Amateur Golf Championships. She finished third in the 2025 IGU All India Ladies & Junior Girls Amateur Championship. Speaking about her round, Guntas said, "Royal Wellington is a challenging parkland course. I attacked the flags from the start, but got mixed results today. I will draw inspiration from some of my good performances on the domestic IGU circuit tomorrow. Looking forward to a memorable outing here." The winner of World Amateur Asia-Pacific earns invitations to play in three major championships -- the AIG Women's Open, the Amundi Evian Championship and The Chevron Championship. (ANI)
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