Mumbai, November 24: K S Rana and Gagan Verma shared the first day's honours as the Rabo Cup Willigdon Sports Club Golf Tournament teed off at the WSC Golf course, here, on Friday. An eclectic mix of a 144 golfers teed off in this biggest corporate golf event, even while celebrities like Kapil Dev, Manpreet Brar and M F Husain played practice rounds. In the handicap category of 0-16, Gagan Verma, with a handicap of four, returned the best gross stableford score, coming home with 33.Gagan Verma also had the longest drive to his credit, stroking the ball to 310 yards. The best net stableford score was credited to Rahul Sood, who completed the course tallying 40 points.In the handicap category of 17-27, K S Rana made it a one-man show, returning the best gross and net stableford scores. Rana, with handicap of 22, had a gross of 22, while his net score was 44. Rana was followed by three players - H R Srinivas, K M Powvala and J G Patel - on a net score of 35. Among the ladies, Baby Malkani, with a handicap of 16, emerged the star of the first day, with the best gross and net stableford scores. Malkani's gross score was 26, while her net score was 35.In the net score tally, Malkani was followed home by Kavita Harsh (handicap 33) with 33, and Rani Maheshwari (handicap 18) with 33. Maheshwari also had the second best gross score of 17 points, followed by Mohini Chaudhary with 12.The longest drive in the 17-27 handicap category of 260 yards was credited to Dilip Goenka, while Tasneem Ali hit it the furthest among the ladies, measuring 230 yards. Kapil Dev, with a handicap of four, will tee off on Saturday and is also expected to be among the top finishers overall.
