Khalin Joshi lying second at Bali National Golf

Khalin Joshi was two shots off the lead as he opened with six birdies and one bogey in the first round of The Bali National Golf Championship today.
His card of five-under 67 at the Bali National Golf Club placed him tied second behind 19-year-old Korean Gyeongjun Lee, who shot seven-under-par 65. Lee arrived a whole week ahead to prepare for the 76,000 US Dollars Asian Development Tour (ADT) event.
Apart from Joshi three others Indians are in the field, with Shubhankar Sharma dropping a late double bogey for 73 and tied 37th place, alongside Himmat Rai, who had a colourful card with six birdies, five bogeys and one double bogey in 73. Chiragh Kumar with two birdies, two bogeys and a double shot 74 and was tied 53rd.

"This is a good start to the tournament. I'm feeling good about my game and my scores prove it. I made one silly bogey on hole five after hitting a poor drive. I almost saved par but my putt lipped out," said the 22-year-old Joshi.
"My putter wasn't as good as I expected in Queens Cup. But I rolled in a few putts today. I holed some really good putts today so it is showing improvement. I'm not completely satisfied and I still have a lot of work to do."
On his plans to come here, he added, "I came here with a relaxed mind because I've heard a lot about Bali. It is beautiful around here. I'm happy and fortunate to be here. The golf course is really nice. It has easy and tough holes but when the wind picks up, it will be a very challenging course."

Bunched in second with Joshi were ADT winners Sean Riordan of New Zealand, Nirun Sae-Ueng of Thailand and Hsieh Chi-hsien of Chinese Taipei, the current ADT Order of Merit leader.

Aided by his father who was on his bag, Lee, who is searching for a first ADT win, enjoyed a solid round where he did not miss a single fairway.
"I came here one week earlier so I had the opportunity to play three to four practice rounds. I usually stay back or go earlier for events. That's my style. My father caddies for me and we are a good team. I pity my dad because he is old and he gets tired but whenever he doesn't caddy for me, I don't play well," he laughed.

The Bali National Golf Resort Championship will be the 15th leg of the 2015 ADT season and also the first of the three stops in Indonesia.
With the Olympic Games looming in 2016 where golf will be reintroduced as a medal sport, players in the region could earn their spots in Rio de Janeiro by earning Official World Golf Ranking points through the Asian Tour and ADT.