ANDREW McARTHUR ONLY ONE SHOT OFF THE
PACE IN CHALLENGE TOUR EVENT

By MICHAEL GIBBONS
Press Officer, European Challenge Tour

Former Scottish amateur champion Andrew McArthur discovered a timely return to form at the FIRSTPLUS Wales Challenge to lie just one shot off the lead after a first round of four under par 68.
Despite a change of golf course from the Vale Hotel Golf and Spa Resort’s Wales National Course to The Lakes Course after Thursday’s torrential rain storms had flooded the original tournament venue, McArthur was able to conjure up five birdies and just a single dropped shot to trail leaders England’s Tim Milford of England, Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zanotti and the Argentine Julio Zapata by a single stroke.
McArthur’s first round performance was a ray of hope on an otherwise dismal day for the 12 Scots in the field.
Only Paul Doherty, after a one under 71, could join McArthur under par, with former PGA champion Andrew Oldcorn carding a level par 72.

FIRST ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 72. The Lakes Course, 6436yd.
67 Fabrizio Zanotti (Par); Tim Milford (Eng); Julio Zapata (Arg);
68 Branden Grace (Rsa); Colm Moriarty (Irl); Andrew McArthur (Sco); Joost Luiten (Ned); Rodolfo Gonzalez (Arg);
69 Gary Clark (Eng); Christoffer Lange (Den); Niki Zitny (Aut); Craig Smith (Wal); Stephen Browne (Irl); Gustavo Rojas (Arg); Jeppe Huldahl (Den); Richard Treis (Ger);
70 Matthew King (Eng); Carlos Balmaseda (Esp); Matt Dearden (Wal); Tim Dykes (Wal); Peter Kaensche (Nor); Felipe Aguilar (Chi); Klas Eriksson (Swe); Bernd Wiesberger (Aut); James H Williams (Wal);
71 Ross Mcgowan (Eng); Paul Doherty (Sco); Chris Gane (Eng); Richard McEvoy (Eng); Mark Wiggett (Eng); Pontus Ericsson (Swe); Sébastien Delagrange (Fra) ; Lasse Jensen (Den); Mark Mouland (Wal);
72 Kariem Baraka (Ger); Stephen Scahill (Nzl); Alex Smith (Wal); Gareth Paddison (Nzl); Jean Hugo (Rsa); David Price (Wal); Jonathan Lomas (Eng); Andrew Oldcorn (Sco); Robert Coles (Eng); Rolf Muntz (Ned); Neil Walker (Eng); Fredrik Widmark (Swe); Robert Mcguirk (Eng); Mickael Dieu (Fra); Stuart Manley (Wal); Martin Maritz (Rsa); Ryan Thomas (Am) (Wal);
73 Matthew Tottey (Wal); Sebastian Fernandez (Arg); Alberto Doniga (Esp); Juan Abbate (Arg); Gareth Maybin (Irl); Andrew Butterfield (Eng); Christian Reimbold (Ger); Jamie Little (Eng); Wilhelm Schauman (Swe); James Ablett (Eng); Liam Bond (Wal); Morten Hedegaard (Den); Phil Worthington (Eng); Johan Sköld (Swe); Tobias Dier (Ger); Michiel Bothma (Rsa);
74 Peter Baker (Eng); Jan-Are Larsen (Nor); Richard O'hanlon (Eng); Michael Hoey (Nir); Julien Clément (Sui); Alex R Sundsten (Nor); Antti Ahokas (Fin); Julien Foret (Fra); Peter Fowler (Aus); Mikko Korhonen (Fin) Jamie Donaldson (Wal); Chris Doak (Sco); Tiago Cruz (Por); Craig Lee (Sco); Neil Cheetham (Eng); Magnus A Carlsson (Swe); Fredrik Ohlsson (Swe); Gary Marks (Eng);
75 José Manuel Carriles (Esp); Leif Westerberg (Swe); Ben Mason (Eng); Denny Lucas (Eng); Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra); Chris Cousins (Wal); Gareth Wright (Wal); Mahal Pearce (Nzl); John E Morgan (Eng); Andrew Barnett (Wal); Iain Pyman (Eng); Toni Karjalainen (Fin); Martin Wiegele (Aut); Jamie Mcleary (Sco); Oliver Whiteley (Eng)
Magnus Persson (Swe); Rhys Davies (Am) (Wal); Rhys Enoch (Am) (Wal);
76 Olivier David (Fra); Kevin Harper (Eng); Daniel De Leon (Mex); Paul Dwyer (Eng); Mark Sheppard (Wal); Robert Dinwiddie (Eng); Oskar Bergman (Swe); Michael McGeady (Irl); Craig Williams (Wal); Stuart Davis (Eng); Stuart Cage (Eng); Tim Vickers (Eng); Hernan Rey (Arg); Philip Golding (Eng); Manoel Willems (Bel); Jack Doherty (Sco); George Murray (Sco); Manuel Merizalde (Col); Luke Thomas (Am) (Wal); Jason Shufflebotham (Am) (Wal);
77 Mark Laskey (Wal); Alun G Evans (Wal); Raphaël Eyraud (Fra); James Kamte (Rsa); Francis Valera (Esp); Matthew Prior (Wal); Carlos Del Moral (Esp); Gustavo Acosta (Arg); Matthew Richardson (Eng); Cennydd Mills (Wal);
78 John Mellor (Eng); Rafael Gomez (Arg); Guido Van Der Valk (Ned); Peter Whiteford (Sco); Elliot Saltman (Sco); Andrea Maestroni (Ita); Roope Kakko (Fin) ; Adam Constable (Wal); Miguel Rodriguez (Arg); Anders Schmidt Hansen (Den);
79 Stuart Little (Eng); Julien Guerrier (Fra); Eric Ramsay (Sco); John Wade (Aus);
80 Simon Thornton (Irl); Matthew Woods (Eng); David Dixon (Eng);
81 Scott Henderson (Sco); Graeme A Clark (Eng);
84 Zach Gould (Am) (Wal);
85 Alex Rowland (Eng);
90 Uri Goldstein (Bel);
Retd Graham Howell (Eng)