Madappa, Raj make solid start at Taiwan amateur golf meet

The Indian team comprising of Aman Raj and Viraj Madappa took the day one honours after returning with a total of two-under 142 at the Taiwan Amateur Golf Championship here on Tuesday.

Raj, current leader of the Indian Golf Union's Men Order of Merit, carded three birdies for an even-par 72 while Madappa fired six birdies to end the day with two-under 70 at the par-72 Sunrise Golf & Country Club.

Madappa, 17, was also a joint leader in individual category along with Sadom Kaewkanjana of Thailand and Chung-Chieh Yang of Taiwan while Raj finished tied sixth with Singapore's Marc Ong at the 7200-yard course.

"I played really well on the front nine as I birdied third, fourth, fifth and ninth. I struggled a bit on the back nine with mid round crisis but overall a good start," Kolkata's Madappa said in a release.

Madappa was given penalty stroke at the 15th hole due to slow play and the bogey on that hole became a double bogey. However, he bounced back to finish strongly with birdies on 16th and 18th holes.

Patna's Raj, 19, who made birdies on third, 12th, 14th and bogeys on fifth, seventh and 11th, said: "We as a team are only one shot ahead of the hosts Taiwan and I need to put some hours into practice so that I can come back stronger tomorrow."