George Murray five shots off the pace

Challenge Tour's Dutch Futures

By STEVE TODD
European Challenge Tour Press Officer
Anstruther’s former Scottish amateur champion George Murray opened with a two under par round of 70 to lie five shots off the pace in the Dutch Futures on the European Challenge Tour today.
A day after Scotland agonisingly failed to beat the Dutch football team in their vital World Cup qualifier, Murray – currently 46th on the European Challenge Tour Rankings – is aiming for a good week to boost his own qualification battle for his European Tour card.
The 26 year old carded four birdies and two bogeys at Golf Club Houtrak, with England’s Ben Mason setting the pace after a seven under par round of 65.
Fellow Scot Andrew McArthur opened with a one under par 71 while Scott Jamieson, Jamie McLeary and Lloyd Saltman all signed for a level par rounds of 72.
Aberdeen's Peter Smith, based in Holland for a number of years, an aiming to go to the European Tour Seniors Q School later this year, had a 76 as he tried to regain a competitive edge that won him the Northern Open in his younger days.
Mason fired an eagle and six birdies for a superb opening round 65, holing his second shot with a wedge from 130 yards on the par four 16th hole after opening with three birdies in his first five holes.
He picked up another shot on the 18th but dropped one straight after the turn – his only bogey of the day - before adding further birdies on the second and eighth holes.
Those final two birdies moved him clear of five players who are locked on five under par; home favourite John Boerdonk, France’s Christophe Brazillier, fellow Englishman Matthew Cort, Danish teenager Jacob Olesen and Spain’s Carl Suneson.
“I was hitting it pretty close all day,” said Mason. “It’s my best round of the year – I had a 64 in Poland but that was a par 70 so that was only six under. To be honest though it was tricky out there with the wind and anything under 70 would have been so to shoot 65 is fantastic.”
FIRST ROUND SCORES
Par 70
65 B Mason (Eng)
67 J Boerdonk (Ned), M Cort (Eng) , J Olesen (Den) , C Suneson (Esp) , C Brazillier (Fra) ,
68 M Zions (Aus), A Butterfield (Eng) , B Wiesberger (Aut) , E Molinari (Ita) , W Vork (am) (Ned) ,
69 J Lima (Por) , P Golding (Eng) , B Pettersson (Swe) , N Meitinger (Ger) , D Griffiths (Eng) , J Quesne (Fra) , R Coles (Eng) , R Davies (Wal) , F Colombo (Ita) , M Cryer (Eng) , A Marshall (Eng) , B Evans (Eng) , N Colsaerts (Bel) , S Tiley (Eng) , M Wiegele (Aut) , K Sullivan (Wal) ,
70 M Higley (Eng , C Moriarty (Irl) , G Murray (Sco) , J Moul (Eng) , M Crespi (Ita) , A Gee (Eng) , M Delpodio (Ita) , G Houston (Wal) , A Tampion (Aus) , G Boyd (Eng) , S Bebb (Wal) , G Shaw (Nir) , L James (Eng) ,
71 A Snobeck (Fra) , A McArthur (Sco) , R Kakko (Fin) , L Moolman (RSA) , M Korhonen (Fin) , J Morrison (Eng) , L Kennedy (Eng) , N Smith (USA) , A Kaleka (Fra) , J Zapata (Arg) , F De Vries (Ned) , F Andersson Hed (Swe) , J Abbate (Arg) ,
72 J McLeary (Sco) , A Grenier (Fra) , J Grillon (Fra) , R McEvoy (Eng) , T Feyrsinger (Aut) , J Granberg (Fin) , W Besseling (Ned) , L Richard (Bel) , L Bond (Wal) , L Saltman (Sco) , M Tullo (Chi) , R Saxton (Ned) , M Reale (Ita) , R Swane (Ned) , S Davis (Eng) , G Gresse (Bel) , A Willey (Eng) , T Whitehouse (Eng) , G Paddison (Nzl) , S Jamieson (Sco) ,
73 C Günther (Ger) , G Molteni (Ita) , M Haastrup (Den) , R Kind (Ned) , T Dykes (Wal) , C Gane (Eng) , S Manley (Wal) , V Riu (Fra) , J Larsen (Nor) , B Hebert (Fra) , A Ahokas (Fin) , C Rodiles (Esp) , E Canonica (Ita) , A Perrino (Ita) , I Pyman (Eng) , J Colomo (Esp) , E Ramsay (Sco) , R Santos (Por) , J Blanks (Eng) , A Bernadet (Fra) , T Cruz (Por) ,
74 T Weiss (Sui) , J Theunis (Bel) , R Muntz (Ned) , F Calmels (Fra) , L De Jager (RSA) , D Nouailhac (Fra) , A Bossert (Sui) , C Carranza (Arg) , M McGeady (Irl) , J Parry (Eng) , M Mills (Eng) , J De Vries (am) (Ned) ,
75 F Praegant (Aut) , S Van Duijn (Ned) , C Russo (Fra) , O Floren (Swe) , Z Scotland (Eng) , P Whiteford (Sco) , T Laitto (Fin) , J Caldwell (Nir) , F Keenan (Eng) , R Steiner (Aut) , K Jorgensen (Den) , J Doherty (Sco) , L Gagli (Ita) , B Alvarado (Chi) , R Eccles (Ned) , D Huizing (am) (Ned) , T Sluiter (am) (Ned)
76 N Vanhootegem (Bel) , J Sjöholm (Swe) , P Smith (Sco) , J Wahlqvist (Swe) , P Acuna (Gtm) , R Wechgelaer (Ned) , S Jeppesen (Swe) ,
77 B Miarka (Ger) , B Parker (Eng) , S Robinson (Eng) , C Simpson (Eng) ,
79 S Henry (Sco) , R Treis (Ger) , A Högberg (Swe) ,
80 M Pilkington (Wal) , A Wagner (Arg) , F Van Hoof (am) (Ned) ,
81 D Küpper (Ger)
82 J Relecom (Bel)
83 N Kraaij (Ned)
84 F De Vooght (am) (Bel)