Joshua Grenville-Wood opened his campaign at the Kolkata Challenge on the HotelPlanner Tour in fine fashion, which included a hole-in-one for the UAE National player.

Grenville-Wood fired his sixth career ace on the 220-yard, par-three 13th hole at Royal Calcutta Golf Club, using a five-iron, during Thursday’s opening round of the €300,000 event in Kolkata. He went on to sign for a two-under-par 70, with the winner set to take home just over €50,000 on Sunday.

Joshua Grenville-Wood hole in one. HotelPlanner Tour in India

Joshua Grenville-Wood – HotelPlanner Tour Instagram

Grenville-Wood was just level par prior to the par-3 13th hole-in-one, after 10 pars and one bogey and one birdie. He dropped a shot on the 17th but finished positively with a birdie on the par four 18th.

The Dubai resident described his hole-in-one as “one of the very few decent shots!”

“It was obviously nice to get a hole-in-one on one of the more difficult par 3s, long, into the wind, back right pin. It was one of the very few decent shots I actually hit today, because I didn’t hit many good ones!

“It was a bit of a grind out there. I didn’t hit it very well off the tee and it’s a pretty tight course. I found myself in a few trees and in the rough quite a lot, but I scrambled and played really smart and just tried to keep the ball in play which I seemed to do fairly well.

“At the end of the day it’s a decent opening score.”

The 26-year-old is playing only his second HotelPlanner Tour event of the season since the NTT DATA Pro-Am, having also competed in the Ras Al Khaimah Championship and the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters on the DP World Tour. He currently sits 81st in the Road to Mallorca Rankings.

A busy stretch of events lies ahead for Joshua this summer, but not before next week’s second leg in India. He will then turn his attention to familiar shores for the UAE Challenge at Al Zorah Golf Club in Ajman and the Abu Dhabi Challenge at Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting and Golf Club in Al Ain, both on the HotelPlanner Tour and supported by the Emirates Golf Federation.

Fellow Dubai residents Adri Arnaus and Renato Paratore opened their tournaments with rounds of three under par and one under par, respectively.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by HotelPlanner Tour (@hotelplannertour)

Currently leading the way in India is home favourite Om Prakash Chouhan, after his six-under-par 66, which included eight birdies. The one-time HotelPlanner Tour winner holds a one-shot lead.

Main Image: Harry Grimshaw