Hume 69, Dear 71 in Alps Tour event in Spain

FROM THE ALPS TOUR WEBSITE
Play in the first round of Peugeot/Alps Tour's tournament at Club de Golf El Escorpion, Valencia in Spain was suspended due to the darkness. About 30 players were still on course at the time and play will resume tomorrow morning at 8am local time.
The leader in the club house teed off in the morning today. Italian Matteo Delpodio signed for a perfect 66, five under par. He reached the turn with nine par figures but stayed patient.
The 24-year-old from Turin seemed much more untroubled than last season:
“Last year, I was not relaxed when I was on a tournament. I made a mistake by playing on each circuit if I could enter the field. I was jumping from Challenge Tour to Alps Tour and I even played my National Open on the main Tour.
"It was not a good choice because each week was very important for my ranking and I missed some casual attitude. This year I feel really better. I have learned from my mistake, I am a professional in my work, I play well, I have a good team around me so I know that if the win doesn't come this week I can do it another week.
"Today, I was patient and knew that I would obviously holed some putts. I was very close to the holes with my putts on front nine. Then I holed five birdie putts on back nine. The work I did with the Italian Federation is paying off.
"Massimo Scarpa is running a group of 20 players and he really helps us. He is a excellent coach, knows exactly what to say to make us play our best golf.”
Same kind of words came from compatriot Andrea Perrino, joint second on 67. Perrino won the Alps Tour order of merit last year and came to Spain to practice. He scored 67, -4 and shared second provisional place with Challenge Tour French player Christophe Brazillier.
“Obviously, I have less pressure since I am not playing on my circuit but it is a good thing to practice here. The course is in a really good shape and the greens are firm. Last year, I did not start the season very well but I played consistent since July. I want to be ready earlier this year.”
The weather conditions were tougher for afternoon players. The wind started to blow and it was colder. The leading Spanish player, Jordi Garcia del Moral, was in morning group as well and scored 68, -3 for a 4th position.
SCOTSWATCH. Perthshire pair Steven Hume and Gavin Dear returned scores of 69 and par 71 respectively. Hume is joint fifth, Dear tied for 21st place.

FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
+Play suspended early because of darkness, 30 players still to complete rounds.
Par 71
66 Matteo Delpodio (Italy).
67 Christophe Brazillier (France), Andrea Perrino (Italy).
68 Jordi Garcia del Moral (Spain).
69 Steven Hume (Scotland), Santiago Luna (Spain), Lawrence Dodd (England), Pedro Oriol (Spain), Ivo Giner (Spain), Moises Cobo (Spain), Jose Romero (Spain), Steve Lewton (England).
Selected scores
70 Richard Kilpatrick (N Ireland) (jt 13th).
71 Gavin Dear (Scotland), Farren Keenan (England), Jason Palmer (England), Nicholas
Murtagh (England (jt 21st).
72 Matthew Cryer (England) (jt 37th).
73 Neil Chaudhuri (England), Mark Hooper (England) (jt 49th).
75 Jason Barnes (England), Daniel Coughlan (England) (jt 73rd).
+Field of 111 players.