Sudeep Chitlangia at the RCGC on Tuesday. Picture by Santosh Ghosh

Calcutta: Top seed Sudeep Chitlangia played to form and set the early pace with a round of even par 72 at the end of Round I of the inaugural National Mid Amateur Golf Championship at the RCGC on Tuesday.

This event, promoted by the Indian Golf Union and co-presented by The Telegraph and Eveready Industries and supported by Pepsi & Kingfisher, is being played for the first time as a 72 hole stroke play golf competition.

Chitlangia’s round had four birdies offset against four bogies and his effort is five stroke better than the second-placed Lt Col S.D.S. Batth and as many as 11 strokes ahead of another pre tournament favourite Gaurav Ghosh and Ajay Rathore.

The top seed started with a mixed round of two birdies and two bogies in the first four holes before he got himself into the groove and stitched together a number of pars to close with 72.

The National Seniors (over 50 age groups) will get underway on Wednesday. Defending champion Vikramjit Singh, six-time champion A.S. Malik and home favourite Lakshman Singh are in contention for top honours in this 54 hole competition.