Challenge Tour fireworks from Scot in Poland

Record-breaking Eric Ramsay's

11 birdies in stunning 61

FROM PAUL SYMES, Challenge Tour Press Officer
Carnoustie's Eric Ramsay equalled the lowest opening round in the history of the Challenge Tour with a stunning 61 on the first day of the DHL Wroclaw Open.
The Scot, who missed the inaugural event last year to watch his beloved Manchester United beat Chelsea in the Champions League final, experienced similar feelings of joy after posting an astonishing 11 birdies at the par 70 course at Toya Golf and Country Club in Wroclaw, Poland.
Ramsay thereby joined a select group which includes Spain’s Rafael Cabrera-Bello, England’s David Geall and Frenchman Michael Lorenzo-Vera, each of whom also managed opening rounds of 61.
Had Ramsay not bogeyed the seventh and eighth holes, he would have become only the second Challenge Tour player after Frenchman Adrien Mörk to record a round of 59.
Ramsay, whose previous best round on the Challenge Tour was a 65 in last year’s Oceânico Group Pro-Am Challenge, currently leads by three shots from Argentina’s Sebastian Saavedra, who is in second place on six under par.
Sweden’s Rikard Karlberg is a further shot back after posting six birdies and a solitary bogey in his round of 65.
Ramsay, currently 70th in the Challenge Tour Rankings after just one top ten finish all season, feels he is peaking at just the right time, ahead of next month’s money-spinning Kazakhstan Open.
He said: “I got off to a great start, and just carried it on from there. I tried to attack every pin today, and for once it came off. When I made birdie at the 14th, it suddenly clicked that if I birdied three of the next four holes, I’d shoot 59. I lipped out with my birdie putt from about 14 feet at the next, then birdied the par three, but left my birdie putt short on the 17th. So if a couple more putts had dropped I might have shot 59, but I can hardly complain after a 61! I hit a lot of good iron shots, which was pleasing – most of my birdie putts were from inside 12 feet.
“I’m not really sure where the round came from, to be honest – I certainly didn’t expect it. My game felt a bit better in Scotland and Finland, and then I had a couple of weeks off. The first week I didn’t even pick up a club, and then last week I put in a lot of work on the practice ground, and it seems to have paid off pretty well.

"My season’s been fairly disappointing, but if I can follow up a good week here with another one in Kazakhstan, I should at least get into the top 45 for the Grand Final at the end of the season, when anything can happen. So hopefully I’m peaking just at the time. But I can’t get ahead of myself, because tomorrow’s going to be a tougher day – it can be hard to follow up a really low round.

"So I’ll probably be happy with anything under par – I certainly won’t expect to shoot 61 again!”

The current Challenge Tour No 2, Andrew Butterfield of England, is in a group of players one shot behind Karlberg on four under par, along with last year’s runner-up Gary Boyd and his compatriot Richard McEvoy, currently fifth in the Rankings.
Meanwhile, Switzerland’s Damian Ulrich also had reasons to be cheerful after his ace at the 11th hole.
FIRST ROUND SCORES

Par 70

61 E Ramsay (Sco)
64 S Saavedra (Arg)
65 R Karlberg (Swe), A Mellor (Eng)
66 R McEvoy (Eng), P Del Grosso (Arg), G Boyd (Eng), K Sullivan (Wal), M Reale (Ita), J Guerrier (Fra), C Aguilar (Esp), S Surry (Eng), J Arruti (Esp), A Butterfield (Eng) , S Tiley (Eng), R Santos (Por), M Haastrup (Den)
67 B Taylor (Eng), C Gane (Eng), J Quesne (Fra) , M Mills (Eng) , V Riu (Fra) , D Nouailhac (Fra), J Larsen (Nor), N Meitinger (Ger) , S Jamieson (Sco) , L Gagli (Ita) , G Davies (Eng) , J Parry (Eng)
68 A McArthur (Sco), C Günther (Ger), C Suneson (Esp) , N Vanhootegem (Bel) , J Little (Eng) , P Bronson (USA), C Russo (Fra), L Tintera (Cze) , A Snobeck (Fra) , M Wiegele (Aut) , F Fritsch (Ger) , R Harris (Eng) , N Colsaerts (Bel) , G Shaw (Nir) , M Korhonen (Fin) , A Grenier (Fra) , S Juul (Den), N Smith (USA), P Purhonen (Fin)
69 L Bond (Wal) , S Robinson (Eng) , R Davies (Wal) , A Ahokas (Fin) , C Moriarty (Irl) , S Henry (Sco) , K Jorgensen (Den), A Willey (Eng) , R Treis (Ger) , M Bothma (RSA) , R Steele (Eng) , D Ulrich (Sui) , J Olesen (Den) , A Högberg (Swe) , L De Jager (RSA) , P Gustafsson (Swe) , A Bernadet (Fra) , A Bossert (Sui) , D Wardrop (Eng) , C Smith (Wal)
70 D Küpper (Ger) , A Kaleka (Fra) , B Mason (Eng) , S Thornton (Irl) , M Quiros (Esp) , T Whitehouse (Eng) , B Evans (Eng) , J Theunis (Bel) , G Houston (Wal) , D Denison (Eng) , P Kaensche (Nor) , A Hansen (Den) , N Fox (Irl) , B Miarka (Ger) ,
71 J Elson (Eng) , R Steiner (Aut) , R De Sousa (Sui) , A Bruschi (Ita) , G Murray (Sco) , M Laskey (Wal) , M Bednarczyk (Pol) , J Wahlqvist (Swe) , O Suhr (Den) , J Grillon (Fra) , D Griffiths (Eng) , M Kramer (Ger) , G Molteni (Ita) , R Saxton (Ned) , M Saluda (Pol) , B Hebert (Fra) , L Moolman (RSA) , C Brazillier (Fra) , O Floren (Swe) , J Heath (Eng) , A Gee (Eng) , R Kokocinski (am) (Swe) ,
72 T Cruz (Por) , N Stivala (Aus) , P Whiteford (Sco) , F Praegant (Aut) , D Froreich (Ger) , T Weiss (Sui) , B Parker (Eng) , D Marmion (Eng) , T Dykes (Wal) , P O'Keeffe (Irl) , A Meronk (am) (Pol) ,
73 J Zapata (Arg) , S Jeppesen (Swe) , P Richardson (Eng) , L Westerberg (Swe) , A Mörk (Fra) , N Lemke (Swe) , M Zions (Aus) , T Pulsakowski (am) (Pol) , M Kasprowicz (am) (Pol) ,
74 M Stelmasiak (Pol) , I Giner (Esp) , G Woodman (Eng) , L James (Eng) , M Monguzzi (Arg) , E Ravn (Den) , F Calmels (Fra) , F Colombo (Ita) , G Zielinski (am) (Pol) , M Gradecki (am) (Pol) , A Kleszcz (am) (Pol)
75 M Flindt (Den), J Sköld (Swe)
76 L Saltman (Sco), M Pilkington (Wal), T Laitto (Fin), J Person (Pol), C Carranza (Arg), P Ragankiewicz (am) (Pol)
78 J Ruth (Eng), B Wuttke (Ger), P Pusset (Fra)
79 R Hughes (Wal)
82 P McLoughlin (Irl)
88 J Lubieniecki (Pol)
90 D Heith (Pol)