CHALLENGE TOUR REPORT, SCORES

Russell, Jack Doherty, Lloyd Saltman miss cut in Belgium

Lee Slattery retained his one shot lead at the Telenet Trophy after firing a four under par 68 in the second round at Rinkven Golf Club in Belgium today.
The Englishman, at 12 under for the tournament after a stunning 64 on day one, leads by one shot from his compatriot Matt Haines, playing only his second Challenge Tour event having turned professional a fortnight ago.
Scotland's prospects of providing the winner are practically nil. Only two Scots made the cut and Jamie McLeary is 10 shots off the pace with 70 and 72 for 142. George Murray made the cut with nothing to spare after rounds of 73 and 70 for 143.
Raymond Russell and Jack Doherty both missed the cut by four shots on 147 while Lloyd Saltman, despite a 10-shot improvement from 80 to 70, failed by a country mile to make the cut.
At the sharp end of the tournament, at which the Scots are certainly not, Frenchman Alex Kaleka is two shots behind Haines in third place, having shot up the leaderboard with an eight under par 64, equalling the course record Slattery set in the first round. England’s Simon Wakefield also posted a 64 to move to four under overall.
Slattery’s lead could have been greater but he three-putted the last for his only bogey of the first two rounds.
“That is really frustrating because I’ve never gone 36 holes without a bogey,” said the 31 year old. “It’s very annoying, but overall I’m very pleased to be where I am and I’m delighted with the way I’m playing.
“I think I actually hit the ball better today but the course is playing probably two or three shots tougher. I had to hit the driver a lot more because it was into the wind and it’s swirling around in all directions out there.
“The birdies I made were six or eight footers – nothing special. I just played very solid again. The last time I won a tournament was in 2004 at the Telia Grand Prix and since then I’ve had a couple of runner-up finishes on the main Tour so I’m definitely due a win.
“It’s a funny category I’ve got this year but the aim is to get back onto The European Tour one way or another.”
Haines, who finished tied 38th on his Challenge Tour debut last week at the Mugello Tuscany Open, said: “I’m over the moon at the minute. I played pretty much the same as yesterday and finished well again by picking up three shots in the last five holes. It’s always nice to have an eagle on the card.
“It sounds simple but if you hit it on the fairways off the tee there are a lot of chances. I’m just really happy to be taking those chances and to be in this position. Hopefully I can keep it going over the next two days.”
Kaleka said: “It’s always good to be in contention and it makes a nice change because I haven’t been playing that well recently. But I felt really good on the driving range this morning, especially with my driver so I used that more today and then was pretty accurate with my wedges into the greens. And I hole everything from about 10ft.”
Defending champion Francois Calmels is three under for the tournament after a 73 in round two and Challenge Tour Rankings leader Robert Dinwiddie is six under at the halfway stage following a two under par 70.
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2x72)
132 L Slattery (Eng) 64 68,
133 M Haines (Eng) 66 67,
135 A Kaleka (Fra) 71 64,
137 B Grace (RSA) 70 67, B Evans (Eng) 67 70, K Sullivan (Wal) 69 68,
138 N Meitinger (Ger) 68 70, M Tullo (Chi) 72 66, R Dinwiddie (Eng) 68 70, V Riu (Fra) 68 70, J Sjöholm (Swe) 68 70, G Molteni (Ita) 71 67,
139 J Zapata (Arg) 71 68, A Tadini (Ita) 67 72, D Denison (Eng) 69 70, E Dubois (Fra) 67 72, J Makitalo (Fin) 69 70, N Lemke (Swe) 69 70, M Wiegele (Aut) 71 68, C Russo (Fra) 67 72, T Whitehouse (Eng) 70 69,
140 G Shaw (Nir) 70 70, T Norret (Den) 69 71, S Surry (Eng) 71 69, S Ottosen (Den) 67 73, J Larsen (Nor) 69 71, M Carlsson (Swe) 66 74, S Wakefield (Eng) 76 64, O Whiteley (Eng) 69 71, L Jensen (Den) 71 69,
141 F Calmels (Fra) 68 73, J Abbate (Arg) 73 68, K Eriksson (Swe) 70 71, D Perrier (Fra) 68 73, S Tiley (Eng) 70 71, D Nouailhac (Fra) 68 73, S Lewton (Eng) 71 70, G Woodman (Eng) 68 73, F Colombo (Ita) 70 71, P Del Grosso (Arg) 70 71, C Moriarty (Irl) 73 68, A Perrino (Ita) 70 71, B Etchart (Esp) 71 70, P Rolland (am) (Bel) 65 76,
142 M Thorp (Nor) 72 70, M Korhonen (Fin) 70 72, J McLeary (Sco) 70 72, A Blyth (Aus) 71 71, F De Vries (Ned) 72 70, R Santos (Por) 71 71, B Mason (Eng) 69 73, O David (Fra) 71 71, B Barham (Eng) 69 73, P Relecom (Bel) 66 76,
143 B Chapellan (Fra) 73 70, A Snobeck (Fra) 75 68, A Bruschi (Ita) 71 72, G Houston (Wal) 72 71, T Feyrsinger (Aut) 70 73, A Hansen (Den) 69 74, A Haindl (RSA) 70 73, J Moul (Eng) 72 71, M Higley (Eng) 72 71, G Murray (Sco) 73 70, J Garcia (Esp) 72 71, T Remkes (Ned) 72 71, A Mellor (Eng) 70 73, N Vanhootegem (Bel) 75 68, O Floren (Swe) 70 73.
MISSED THE CUT
144 A Willey (Eng) 72 72, S Buhl (Ger) 71 73, D Whitnell (Eng) 71 73, S Davis (Eng) 69 75, J Grillon (Fra) 73 71, M Rominger (Sui) 75 69, L Claverie (Esp) 71 73, S Lilly (Eng) 72 72, R Kind (Ned) 74 70, S Walker (Eng) 70 74, D Ulrich (Sui) 71 73, G Davies (Eng) 71 73, G Gresse (Bel) 73 71, T Carolan (Aus) 72 72, J Roos (RSA) 72 72,
145 D Griffiths (Eng) 70 75, A Högberg (Swe) 70 75, W Besseling (Ned) 71 74, B Lecuona (Fra) 75 70, R Kakko (Fin) 70 75, A Bernadet (Fra) 70 75, S Reale (Ita) 71 74, M Eliasson (Swe) 71 74, C Mivis (am) (Bel) 77 68,
146 L Moolman (RSA) 77 69, A Grenier (Fra) 71 75, T Haylock (Eng) 74 72, F Henge (Swe) 74 72, G Watremez (Bel) 73 73, A Sjöstrand (Swe) 70 76, B Alvarado (Chi) 70 76, A Johnston (Eng) 70 76, W Ormsby (Aus) 71 75,
147 R Russell (Sco) 73 74, J Doherty (Sco) 73 74, D Wardrop (Eng) 73 74, P Dwyer (Eng) 74 73, I Pyman (Eng) 72 75, R Sjöberg (Swe) 73 74, I Van Weerelt (Ned) 75 72, J Gidney (Eng) 77 70, T Planchin (Fra) 75 72, M Laskey (Wal) 76 71, Q De Valensart (Bel) 73 74, N Sulzer (Sui) 77 70, L Goddard (Eng) 70 77, L James (Eng) 72 75,
148 C Brazillier (Fra) 75 73, T De Kesel (Bel) 71 77, N Bruzelius (Swe) 73 75, L Brovold (Nor) 75 73, D Brooks (Eng) 73 75,
149 J Legarrea (Esp) 76 73, B Ritthammer (Ger) 76 73, M Mills (Eng) 74 75, J Caldwell (Nir) 76 73, L Bond (Wal) 75 74, T Pieters (am) (Bel) 72 77,
150 J Billot (Fra) 70 80, O Turnill (Eng) 80 70, J Maurer (Aut) 75 75, A Ahokas (Fin) 78 72, L Saltman (Sco) 80 70, S Garcia (Esp) 74 76, A Zanini (Ita) 74 76,
151 L Richard (Bel) 74 77, G Monville (Bel) 77 74, F Marty (Fra) 76 75,
152 Z Scotland (Eng) 71 81, J Relecom (Bel) 80 72, T Werbrouck (Bel) 74 78, S Quy (am) (Bel) 77 75,
153 A Kimani (Ken) 78 75,
154 M Lowe (Eng) 78 76, M Zions (Aus) 76 78, J Xanthopoulos (Fra) 78 76,
155 B Pettersson (Swe) 79 76, P Kaensche (Nor) 77 78,
157 H Thethy (Ken) 77 80,
160 D De Vooght (Bel) 76 84, M De Craecker (am) (Bel) 79 81,
164 G Seegmuller (Bel) 79 85,
** L Westerberg (Swe) 69 DQ, R Muntz (Ned) 74 WD, E Du Monceau (am) (Bel) 80 WD, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 75 WD, J Clément (Sui) DQ