Ajeetesh Sandhu doesn’t have the tendency to go red on the greens, but he nearly did so after being tested on a few occasions on the day. Normally a solid putter, the 16-year-old has been finding the going a trifle tough on the fast greens at the KGA course. That was evident in the way he handled them on the second day of the Nokia South India Junior and Sub-junior golf championships here.

His reading of the greens left a lot to be desired. Maybe the overnight and early morning showers had a big say in that. The soft but quick greens had him flummoxed. For, he three-putted on two holes, both for bogeys, and missed a couple of birdie putts, either giving too much strength or too little.

Despite the struggle on the greens, Merit List leader Sandhu, however, was solid with his iron-play during his fine two-under-par 70. Tied joint third after an indifferent opening-round 74, Sandhu vaulted to the top of the leaderboard at the halfway stage with a cumulative score of level-par 144 in Category A (15-17 years).

Overnight leader Rahul Bakshi, despite handling the greens far better than Sandhu, struggled with his driving during his second-round 77 and slipped to fourth spot, four behind his St John’s schoolmate on 148. Secunderabad’s Anirbhan Lahari, having made rapid strides in the last two years, shot the only other sub-par round of the day, a 71 taking him to the second spot, two behind the favourite.

Keen to make up for his first-round failure, the 16-year-old Sandhu, winner of six of the eight titles last season, began with a three-putted bogey on the par-five 11th hole. A tenth-tee starter, Sandhu quickly put that blemish behind him and went about the repair job.

He sank a 10-footer for birdie on the 12th hole. Sandhu added another on the 16th following a brilliant nine-iron second shot, tapping in a four-footer. Two more birdies on the first and fifth holes took him to three-under for the day.

But the poor show on the sixth green, where he three-putted, saw him drop a stroke. Unruffled, Sandhu sank an uphill nine-footer on the par-three eighth to go three-under again. But a hooked driver tee-shot to the left trees on the ninth hole saw him drop another and finish with a 70.

Despite the second-round 77, Bakshi still leads Category B (13-14 years). Khalin Joshi too remained ahead of the pack in Category C (11-12 years) with a two-day total of 159, 12 strokes ahead of Anish Gupta. In Category D (below 10 years), Ankur Gupta shot an 82 in the first round.

Scores

(after 36 holes unless mentioned): Category A (15-17 years): 144: Ajeetesh Sandhu (Chd, 74, 70); 146: Anirbhan Lahari (S’bad, 75, 71); 147: Surya J Prakash (Kol, 72, 75); 148: Rahul Bakshi (Chd, 71, 77); 149: Kunal Balhara (Del, 74, 75).

Category B

(13-14): 148: Rahul Bakshi (Chd, 71, 77); 152: Madhav Soi (Del, 78, 74); 154: Amanjyot Singh (J’pur, 78, 76); 158: Pritam Haridas (B’lore, 80, 78); 159: Udayan Mane (B’lore, 78, 81).

Category C

(11-12): 159: Khalin Joshi (B’lore, 78, 81); 171: Anish Gupta (Chd, 89, 82); 172: Ainesh Ahluwalia (Del, 87, 85); 182: Hemandra Chaudhury (J’pur, 89, 93); 184: Jay Shirke (95, 89).

Category D

(below 10, after 18 holes): 82: Ankur Chadha; 87: Tarundeep Singh; 89: Syed Saqib Ahmed; 91: Rahul Ravi (B’lore); 95: Roshan Raj