Thailand’s Weerawish Narkprachar set the early pace at the Indonesia Pro-Am presented by Combiphar and Nomura today, his bogey-free round of 63 giving him a one shot lead over Japan’s Naoki Sekito and Carl Jano Corpus of the Philippines.

The 54-hole US$125,000 tournament, played on the East and West courses of the Gunung Geulis Country Club in Bogor, on the outskirts of Jakarta, matches leading Asian Development Tour players with invited guests.

And with three hole in ones in the first round, amateur Liong Santoso pitched in to help partner Corpus into first place in the team competition with an ace on the 11th hole West Course.

Also holing out from the tee were England’s Matt Killen, winner in last month’s Ciputra Golfpreneur tournament, who aced the fifth hole on the West course, and Malaysia’s Paul San, who jarred the second hole on the East course.

“I started off a bit slow but I picked it up on hole three and four,” said Weerawish after his round, which began on Hole 15 in the shotgun start. “Then on six to nine I made all birdies, it was a wonderful finish and I hope I can keep it up tomorrow,” he added.

“I know it’s a tough stretch (holes two-five) but I managed to hit it close on hole three, a long par three, and made an easy birdie there. Hole four I had a tough putt but luckily it went in and my game just started to flow from there,” he said.

“The shotgun start felt a bit weird but at the end of the day we play every hole the same and it’s also fun to start on a par three,” he added.

Sekito (64), who shares second place with Corpus, enjoyed his return to the Bogor course, where he has tournament wins in 2023 and 2019.

“Honestly I don’t really know why I play really well here at Gunung Geulis,” he said, “but I have won here twice and every time I come back it feels like a second home and it gives me a lot of confidence.

“I played the West course today, which is a bit easier than the East course, you can make more birdies. Tomorrow I will try to not make a lot of mistakes and hopefully can make a few birdies.

“This course everyone can shoot low because it’s not a long course, East or West, so I just want to keep shooting under par for the next two days,” he added.

For Corpus, winner of the second leg of the Morocco Rising Stars Marrakech in June, he focused on getting his ball in the right place on the greens.

“It’s my first time here but I am quite confident in my ability and I have set up a game plan to give myself the most opportunities,” he said after his round.

“The course was in really good shape today, the fairways were in pristine condition and the greens were amazing. The greens were really fast and you had to be below the hole and that was the strategy I had the whole day,” he said.

“You have to keep it below the hole, especially on the West course, you can’t really go for it even if you are on the green if you are not under the hole, definitely not,” he stressed.

“That was one of the things I did really well today,” he said. “I had a lucky chip in eagle on hole number nine, it took two bounces and hopped in the hole, but that’s just one of those breaks I can’t take for granted.

“I was given the opportunity to play even better and I did,” he said. “I had a stretch of four birdies, and on those four holes, I put myself in position to make birdies and I’m happy with that.”

In fourth place, on six under par, Thailand’s Waris Manthorn and Witchayapat Sinsrang shared position with Argentina’s Miguel Carballo and Malaysia’s Shahriffuddin Ariffin, who celebrated his birthday today.

Play continues tomorrow with the teams switching courses between East and West and all players teeing off at 7.30am with a continuation of the shotgun start.

Main picture: Thailand’s Weerawish Narkprachar pictured in action at during the first round of the Indonesia Pro-Am presented by Combiphar and Nomura at Gunung Geulis Country Club. Picture courtesy OB Golf.