Thailand’s Jakraphan Premsirigorn hit a perfect round on the opening day of the BNI Ciputra Golfpreneur tournament on the BSD course at Damai Indah Golf today, posting eight birdies with no dropped shots to lead the field on eight under par.

“It was a perfect round today, I hit eight birdies, bogey free,” he said after his round with a score of 66. “My plan this week was to hit the greens and I hit all 18 greens in regulation.

“My approach game was good, I tried to hit it pretty close to a safe spot near the pin which made it easy to putt,” he added.

“The course was good,” he said. “You just need to get the ball in the fairway and hit the greens. Some greens were firm, but you have to keep it out of the rough. If you hit it in to the rough you cannot hit the green.”

Compatriot Newport Laporojkit posted an early clubhouse lead at the US$125,000 Asian Development Tour tournament with a 65, getting off to a good start and then finishing strongly with five birdies on the back nine.

Sarun Sirithon of Thailand pictured in action at the BNI Ciputra Golfpreneur tournamanet at Damai Indah Golf BSD Course. Picture courtesy Damai Indah Golf.

“I had a birdie on the first par five on the front nine, which gave me some momentum. I missed a few birdie putts after that but on the back nine I made a long putt on 11 – the par three – and then after that I kept it in the fairway and made a few putts.”

He narrowly missed out on two eagles which would have seen him set some distance from the field, almost holing out from the rough on 15 and then seeing a 20 foot putt on the 18th just stop on the edge of the hole, leaving him just half an inch for birdie.

“I did a little bit of tinkering with my swing before entering this week, I had some people look at it and it’s been a lot better. My driving’s been good, kept it in play today, and my putting has improved a lot this week after I worked on it with my Dad,” he added.

Korea’s Min Hyeok Yang, one of the later starters for Round One, posted a total of seven birdies in his round to secure a share of second place on seven under par.

Danny Chia of Malaysia was another of the early leaders, finishing the morning on six under par.

“It was a solid round, I’m happy with it,” he said after his round. “The highlight’s probably the short par four. I hit a pretty good drive but I thought it’s going to go in the bunker but somehow it ended up ten feet from the hole so I putted in for eagle.

Danny Masrin of Indonesia pictured in action at the BNI Ciputra Golfpreneur tournamanet at Damai Indah Golf BSD Course. Picture courtesy Damai Indah Golf.

“I’ve played here a few times already and I quite like the golf course. It suits my game, it’s not overly long but the greens are quite tricky so you have to putt well. It was a good start to the day, I birdied the first two holes. Hit a 15 footer on the first and then about 30 feet on the second.

“I’ve been doing some swing changes over the last six months. About three months ago it started to work well for me so I’ve been hitting a lot of good iron shots into the pin. That’s given me a lot of opportunities for birdies so I’m feeling quite comfortable with my irons at the moment.

“I missed quite a few putts today out there on the golf course. I misread a few but I’m still quite happy with six under. You make some, you miss some,” he laughed.

Chia’s score of 66 was matched by Ho Yu-cheng of Chinese Taipei and the Thai cohort of Parathakorn Suyasri, Suttijet Kooratanapisan, Panuphol Pittayarat and Sarun Sirithon.

In a group for tenth spot on five under par were Singapore’s Koh Deng Shan, Yuvraj Singh Sandhu of India, England’s Joe Heraty, Poosit Supupramai of Tahiland, Indonesia’s Danny Masrin, Ahmad Baig of Pakistan and Australia’s Deyen Lawson.