Thailand’s Ekpharit Wu and Matthew Cheung of Hong Kong made the most of their early rounds at the BNI Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament in Indonesia today, posting six-under-par scores of 66 to take the early clubhouse lead.

They were later joined by Kosuke Hamamoto of Thailand who was one of the lunchtime starters in the first round of the US$140,000 Asian Development Tour event at Damai Indah Golf’s BSD course.

Ekpharit, coming into the tournament after back to back wins on the All Thailand Golf Tour, made a steady start from the 10th tee, posting two birdies before dropping a shot on the 16th hole.

He regained his composure swiftly on the par five 18th, threading a four iron 195 yards into the wind and between two greenside bunkers to post an eagle and get back on track.

With three additional birdies in his second nine, Ekpharit was clearly in form following his victories at the Singha All Thailand Memorial on August 11 and the Singha Pattaya Open last week.

“It was a very good day for me today to start with six under,” he said after his round, adding that the two wins had helped his confidence coming into this event.

“They helped me a lot,” he said, “one because it was my first All Thailand Tour win, and then with back to back wins which gave me a lot of confidence to play on the ADT,” he added.

“Today I putted very well, but for my tee shots i have a lot of work to do, tomorrow I will work on that,” he said.

Kosuke Hamamoto of Thailand pictured in action at the BNI Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament. The US$140,000 Asian Development Tour event is being held from August 21-24 at the Damai Indah Golf BSD course in Tangerang, Indonesia. Picture courtesy of Damai Indah Golf.

Cheung was another of the morning starters who stood up to the test of the Tangerang course near Jakarta. A total of seven birdies, with just a single dropped shot on 17, saw him grab a share of the clubhouse lead after the morning session

“I thought I played really good today, especially the front nine,” he said after his round. “I gave myself a lot of opportunities and was able to make some putts.

“On the back nine the irons werent quite there but I missed in the right spots, which is what you have to do on this golf course. I made a lot of pars and a couple of birdies coming in,” he added.

“The course is really good, super fair,” he said. “The greens are quite firm this week so you really need to be careful with your iron shots, pick the right spots and miss them in the right spots or you can make bogeys really easy,” he added. “I thought i did that really well today so it was a good score.”

Kosuke, who finished second to Ekpharit in Pattaya last week, was equally ready to take on the BSD course.

“It felt really good to finish with an eagle for a really solid round,” he said after posting his score. “I’m just very happy with how I handled myself out there today.”

After three opening pars, he posted a string of birdies before a double bogey on the par three seventh hole threatened to derail his round.

Danny Chia of Malaysia pictured in action at the BNI Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament. The US$140,000 Asian Development Tour event is being held from August 21-24 at the Damai Indah Golf BSD course in Tangerang, Indonesia. Picture courtesy of Damai Indah Golf.

Undeterred, he bounced straight back with a birdie on the eighth, and notched a couple more on the back nine before finishing with an eagle on 18 to match the 66 of the early leaders.

For his eagle on the last, his second shot may have missed the green but things turned out in his favour.

“For the second shot I had 181 in,” he explained, “but I just leaked out my iron to the right a bit. It was pin high but it was off the green.

“Luckily Rahil (Gangee) chipped before me. He was just two yards away and I saw his chip so it gave me a good idea of what the pace was. I thought I’d hit it a bit too hard but it hit the pin and went in,” he chuckled.

In fourth place, with 67 and five under par, Chanat Sakulpolphaisan of Thailand was joined by Singapore’s James Leow, Danny Chia of Malaysia and Korea’s Minhyeok Yang.

Thailand’s Paunuphol Pittayarat posted a bogey free round to head a group in eighth place on four under par, alongside compatriots Tanapat Pichaikool, Sarujn Sirithon and Vanchai Luangnitikul.

They were joined by India’s Khalin Joshi and defending champion Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, leading Indonesian player Jonathan Wijono, Deyen Lawson of Australia, Malaysia’s Ervin Chang, Ben Jones of England and Joel Stalter of France.

All 150 players were able to finish the first round of the 72 hole tournament which concludes on Saturday, August 24. Round Two will start at 6.20am on Tursday for the morning session, with the afternoon flights teeing it up from 11am.