ALPS TOUR REPORT, SCORES

McAlpine (70) leads Scots in Slovenia Open

FROM THE ALPS TOUR WEBSITE
The Alps Tour has established its camp for the weekend at the almost unpronounceable Ptuj, Slovenia for the staging of the Slovenia Open.
Ptuj is one of the oldest town in the country. It was already populated during Stone Age and was very prosperous during the days of the Roman Empire. It gained independence in the Tenthj Century.
So much for the history lesson, what about the golf?
Spaniard Jorge Garcia Fernandez and French rookie Matthieu Bey both signed for six under par 65s to share the first-round lead at Ptuj golf club. The short course suited Andrea Signor as well. He is two shots off the pace in third place on 67.
A group of five players are three strokes behind the leaders. Among them is Englishman Jason Palmer, who finished second last week to enter the top five of the order of merit. If Palmer does better this week, he would jump on the first place.
The projected cut is two over par
SCOTSWATCH: Kevin McAlpine from Alyth is the leading Scot with a one-under-par 70. He is a shot ahead of Murrayshall's Gavin Dear. Zack Saltman (Aegon) from the Lothians has the bragging rights in the family with a 73 - seven shots ahead of his oldest brother Elliot. Steven Hume, the third Perthshire player in the field, is also struggling to beat the cut after a first-round 78.
Agathe Séron
LEADERBOARD
Par 71
65 Jorge Garcia Fernandez (Spain), Matthieu Bey (France).
67 Andrew Signor (Italy).
68 Matthew Cryer (England), Carlos Balmaseda (Spain), Marco Crespi (Italy), Jurgen Maurer (Austria), Jason Palmer (England).
Selected scores:
70 Kevin McAlpine (Scotland), Farren Keenan (England) (jt 13th).
71 Mark Davies (England), Gavin Dear (Scotland) (jt 19th).
72 Ricky Neil-Jones (England) (jt 24th).
73 Zack Saltman (Scotland), Richard Kilpatrick (Northern Ireland) (jt 30th).
74 Nicholas Murtagh (England) (jt 42nd).
75 Jason Barnes (England), Neil Chaudhuri (England) (jt 55th).
76 Sam Robinson (England) (jt 67th).
77 Mattew Baldwin (England) (jt 78th.
78 Jason Kelly (England), Adam Hodkinson (England), Steven Hume (Scotland), Lewis Pattullo (England) (jt 82nd).
80 Elliot Saltman (jt 98th).
82 Matthew Marsh (England) (jt 101st).