Guntas best Indian at tied 17th

India's Guntas Kaur Sandhu carded a one-under 71 at the Royal Wellington Golf Club here on Thursday to emerge as the best Indian at tied 17th position after the opening round of the Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific. 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. 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.