WALES CHALLENGE TOUR REPORT

Greig Hutcheon in contention but

says he's at crossroads of career



FROM SCOTT CROCKETT, Chief Press Officer, European Tour
Greig Hutcheon might have spent last winter refurbishing drill bits in a factory but the Scot showed he also possessed the tools to succeed on the golf course when he grabbed the early lead in the SWALEC Wales Challenge.
The 36 year old Aberdonian, pictured right by Cal Carson Golf Agency, carded an excellent three under par 69 on the demanding National Course at The Vale Hotel Golf and Spa Resort on the outskirts of Cardiff to take a one shot lead over Germany’s Richard Treis, the duo the only two players from 78 morning starters to break par.
Hutcheon took the decision to work at the Redback Drilling Tools factory in Aberdeen to save money for his wedding in March but, with the ceremony now behind him, has turned his attention back to golf in an attempt to work his way back to the top echelons of the game.
“I think I am good enough to play on The European Tour and I do feel I have the game to have won on The European Tour,” he said. “I am fairly long and my short game is competent enough to be able to compete there so hopefully this is the start of a decent couple of weeks for me.
“One good week can turn it all around here on the Challenge Tour but, to be honest, I feel like I’m at the crossroads now. I have made a lot of cuts this year but have finished between 40th and 60th and when you do that, you end up losing money.
“I am going to play this week and next week in the Scottish Hydro Challenge (at Spey Valley, Aviemore) but if I don’t do well enough I think I will just have to concentrate on playing the Tartan Tour for the rest of the year.”
Certainly if the former Scottish professional champion can repeat the form he showed on the back nine of the National Course – playing to its full 7,266yd due to heavy pre-tournament rain and strong winds – then he might be sticking around the Challenge Tour circuit for a few months yet.
To the turn in level par 36, Hutcheon turned on the style heading for home with birdies at the 10th, 12th, 15th and 16th holes, the latter on the demanding 495yd 16th particularly noteworthy as, after his drive, he found the middle of the green with a three wood approach and holed from 15ft for his 3.
He dropped a shot at the last after missing the green but the Scot admitted he hoped that would be the only bit of misfortune he encountered this week. “That was a shame,” he said. “But it was the only real downside of the day. I will keep battling on because I love the game.”
Treis, who began his first round at the tenth, reached the ‘turn’ in 34 and although his progress was halted slightly by a double bogey 6 at the sixth hole, he finished in style with a birdie 3 at the 423yd ninth.
LATER NEWS: The English duo Matthew Cort and John Parry staged their own version of ‘The Late, Late Show’ to grab a share of the first round lead.
Out virtually last in the day on opposite sides of the demanding Cardiff course, the pair arrived together to sign their scorecards at 8.20pm and did so for respective four under par 68s to take a one shot lead over their fellow countryman Alex Belt and Aberdeen’s Greig Hutcheon who both opened with 69s.
FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 72
68 M Cort (Eng), J Parry (Eng)
69 A Belt (Eng), G Hutcheon (Sco)
70 A Högberg (Swe) , R Treis (Ger), M Mills (Eng) ,
71 C Smith (Wal), D Nouailhac (Fra), S Surry (Eng) ,
72 R McEvoy (Eng), A Butterfield (Eng), P Whiteford (Sco) , S Robinson (Eng) , S Bebb (Wal) , G Shaw (Nir), J Campillo (Esp) , C Gane (Eng) ,
73 J McLeary (Sco) , J Morrison (Eng) , A Grenier (Fra) , D Marmion (Eng) , O Floren (Swe) , S Walker (Eng) , P Kaensche (Nor) , N Colsaerts (Bel) , R Karlberg (Swe) , K Jorgensen (Den) , O Farr (am) (Wal)
74 C Brazillier (Fra) , P Del Grosso (Arg) , J Quesne (Fra) , C Lee (Sco) , M Zions (Aus) , S Webster (Eng) , J Doherty (Sco) , N Meitinger (Ger) , J Grillon (Fra) , J Abbate (Arg) , F Praegant (Aut) , C Moriarty (Irl) , M McGeady (Irl) , A Bernadet (Fra) , G Houston (Wal) , A Tampion (Aus) , R Coles (Eng)
75 R Saxton (Ned) , G Murray (Sco) , J McCreadie (Sco) , G Clark (Eng) , B Pettersson (Swe) , M Haastrup (Den) , S Jeppesen (Swe) , S Dodd (Wal) , T Ferreira (RSA) , A Gee (Eng) , J Granberg (Fin) , D Küpper (Ger) , J Little (Eng) , G Woodman (Eng) , J Frazer (am) (Wal) ,
76 R Steiner (Aut) , A Constable (Wal) , G Molteni (Ita) , M Wiegele (Aut) , J Lima (Por) , Z Scotland (Eng) , F Colombo (Ita) , C Carranza (Arg) , S Juul (Den) , P Drost (Den) , N Lemke (Swe)
77 L Gagli (Ita) , V Riu (Fra) , A Summers (Aus) , B Miarka (Ger) , A Mellor (Eng) , T Whitehouse (Eng) , N Fox (Irl) , D Denison (Eng) , P Bocian (Swe) , R Russell (Sco) , T Dykes (Wal) , R Davies (Wal) , P Golding (Eng) , M Rominger (Sui) , M Laskey (Wal) , A Runcie (am) (Wal)
78 J Colomo (Esp) , C Russo (Fra) , C Mills (Wal) , T Haylock (Eng) , R Santos (Por) , M Crespi (Ita) , J Guerrier (Fra) , A Kaleka (Fra) , M Delpodio (Ita) , E Molinari (Ita) , L James (Eng) , J Larsen (Nor) , A McArthur (Sco) , B Etchart (Esp) , A Murray (Irl) , J Bjerhag (Swe) , L Kennedy (Eng) , D Wardrop (Eng) , L Westerberg (Swe) , S Thornton (Irl) , S Jamieson (Sco) , L Bond (Wal) , D Brooks (Eng) , L Rooke (Wal) ,
79 A Hansen (Den) , M Kramer (Ger) , R Steele (Eng) , J Heath (Eng) , J Ruth (Eng) , R Dinsdale (Wal) , N Turner (Irl) , G Paddison (Nzl) , D Griffiths (Eng) , O David (Fra) , T Cruz (Por) , L Saltman (Sco) , G Davies (Eng) , D Sandberg (Swe) , T Sundström (Fin) , R Harris (Eng)
80 K Sullivan (Wal) , A Willey (Eng) , L Thompson (Eng) , P Price (Wal) , J Sköld (Swe) , J Boerdonk (Ned) , B Evans (Eng) , R Thomas (Wal) , J Vickery (am) (Wal) ,
81 M Griffiths (Wal) , E Ramsay (Sco) , M Pilkington (Wal) , E Saltman (Sco) , T Laitto (Fin) ,
82 S Grant (Irl) , J Billot (Fra) , G Woolgar (Eng) , A Bruschi (Ita) , R Hooper (am) (Wal) ,
83 F Fritsch (Ger) , N Harris (Eng) , D Froreich (Ger) ,
85 T Jones (Eng) , H Thethy (Ken) , V Thorne (am) (Wal) ,
86 R Charania (Ken) , L Richard (Bel)