Elliot Saltman in contention in Golf Open de Lyon contention in Golf Open de Lyon
From Challenge Tour Press Officer Paul Symes
A sparkling round of 65 saw in-form Scot Elliot Saltman take a share of second place on day one of the ALLIANZ Golf Open de Lyon on the European Challenge Tour.
Saltman, runner-up at the recent Fred Olsen Challenge de España, struck six birdies in a flawless round to finish on six under par, level with Sweden’s Oscar Floren and one shot behind leader Marcus Higley, who signed for a 64 despite struggling with bruised ribs caused by a cycling accident.
Had his putter been as hot as the temperatures at Golf du Gouverneur in Lyon, France, Saltman might have held the outright lead. But the Edinburgh native was still pleased with a round which saw him continue an encouraging run of recent results.
He said: “I probably left a fair few shots out there, because I missed four putts from within about eight feet, which has probably been a bit of a weakness of mine. But I suppose you can’t hole every putt, so I’ve still got to be very happy with how I’ve played. I’m in pretty good form at the minute, stretching back to my round of 67 on the first day in Morocco. I fell back away a bit over the next three days, but I still took a lot of positives from the week, and managed to carry that into the Spanish event.
“I was disappointed not to win there, but once I’d got over the disappointment I felt pretty proud of how I’d played for three days. If I can keep my form going for the next few days and weeks, it should bode well for the rest of the year. Obviously I’d love to finish in the top 20 of the Rankings and get my European Tour card, but if not then the next best thing would be to get a decent category for next season on the Challenge Tour.”
Other Scots who performed admirably include Scott Jamieson, who signed for a two under par round of 69, one better than his compatriots Jamie McLeary and Callum Macaulay.
Other players with reasons to be cheerful include Frenchman Anthony Snobeck, who notched the first albatross of the 2010 Challenge Tour season at the eighth hole. And the drinks were also on Argentina’s Alan Wagner, who aced the 11th hole.
A blistering burst of birdies on his back nine saw England’s Marcus Higley surge to the head of affairs on day one.
After going out in 34 at a sun-soaked Golf du Gouverneur in Lyon, France, Higley picked up six shots in five holes after the turn – including an eagle three at the third – to sign for a round of 64, one better than Scotland’s Elliot Saltman and the in-form Swede Oscar Floren.
Having fallen from his bike last week and bruised his ribs Higley’s preparations were restricted to the putting green, and the practice paid off in fine style as he holed putt after putt to record the lowest round of a season which has, by his own admission, so far failed to ignite.
He said: “I played well all day really, but just started holing a few putts after the turn really – that was the difference between the two nines. In the middle of my back nine I started to feel pretty invincible – I thought I was going to hole every putt at that point! I actually missed two fairly short putts on my last two holes – they can’t have been more than about six feet each, so I would’ve expected to have holed at least one of them. But it wasn’t to be, and I holed more than my fair share today, so I certainly can’t complain about the one or two that got away. If I’d been offered a 64 before today’s round, I probably would’ve just about taken it!
“My golf this season’s been pretty average, so hopefully that round might spark it into life. I didn’t actually feel that confident coming into the tournament, because I bruised my rib falling off my bike back home, and haven’t been able to swing a club for a week. I could hardly move for a couple of days after the accident, then it slowly started getting better but I didn’t want to risk it. So all I’ve been able to work on is my putting, and that paid dividends today. Maybe that’s the way forward!”
Others with reasons to be cheerful include Frenchman Anthony Snobeck, who notched the first albatross of the 2010 Challenge Tour season at the eighth hole. And the drinks were also on Argentina’s Alan Wagner, who aced the 11th hole.
FIRST ROUND
64 M Higley (Eng) ,
65 E Saltman (Sco) , O Floren (Swe) ,
66 T Olesen (Den) , B Mason (Eng) , T Feyrsinger (Aut) , Å Nilsson (Swe) , I Van Weerelt (Ned) , A Bjork (Swe) , M Zions (Aus) ,
67 C Del Moral (Esp) , L Slattery (Eng) , F De Vries (Ned) , O David (Fra) , P Dwyer (Eng) , A Kaleka (Fra) , J Arruti (Esp) , M Carlsson (Swe) , B Wiesberger (Aut) ,
68 J Sjöholm (Swe) , W Ormsby (Aus) , F Calmels (Fra) , G Molteni (Ita) , J Guerrier (Fra) , A Grenier (Fra) , C Ford (Eng) , F Marty (Fra) , A Bernadet (Fra) , B Teilleria (Fra) , R Kakko (Fin) , T Remkes (Ned) , L Gagli (Ita) , J Garcia Pinto (Esp) ,
69 A Perrino (Ita) , S Jamieson (Sco) , C Baker (USA) , A Sjöstrand (Swe) , C Günther (Ger) , B Grace (RSA) , M Haines (Eng) , S Ottosen (Den) , C Suneson (Esp) , M Bothma (RSA) , M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) , S Manley (Wal) ,
70 B Evans (Eng) , A Tadini (Ita) , S Robinson (Eng) , J Billot (Fra) , F Fritsch (Ger) , S Davis (Eng) , S Wakefield (Eng) , C Macaulay (Sco) , M Tullo (Chi) , J Makitalo (Fin) , J McLeary (Sco) , J Doherty (Sco) , J Ruth (Eng) , A Snobeck (Fra) , V Riu (Fra) , C Moriarty (Irl) , A Willey (Eng) , R Santos (Por) , J Grillon (Fra) , J Legarrea (Esp) , T Raillard (Fra) ,
71 E Ramsay (Sco) , A McArthur (Sco) , M Vibe-Hastrup (Den) , G Houston (Wal) , F Praegant (Aut) , B Lecuona (Fra) , J Campillo (Esp) , R Russell (Sco) , R Kind (Ned) , D Nouailhac (Fra) , S Tanfin (Fra) , T Norret (Den) , A Bihan (Fra) , J Abbate (Arg) , A Gee (Eng) , L Kennedy (Eng) , T Fournier (Fra) , J Zapata (Arg) , T Haylock (Eng) , L Richard (Bel) ,
72 P Valmary (Fra) , N Meitinger (Ger) , M Soffietti (Ita) , A Högberg (Swe) , A Marshall (Eng) , M Korhonen (Fin) , C Russo (Fra) , A Wagner (Arg) , S Bebb (Wal) , A Hansen (Den) , M Hill (Fra) , C Brazillier (Fra) , P Del Grosso (Arg) , J Larsen (Nor) , M Van Hauwe (Fra) , A Velasco (Esp) , L Poncelet (Fra) , M Baldwin (Eng) ,
73 K Le Sager (Fra) , J Hedin (Swe) , K Eriksson (Swe) , E Canonica (Ita) , P Eales (Eng) , J Remesy (Fra) , I Giner (Esp) , F Henge (Swe) , D Perrier (Fra) , D Brooks (Eng) , V Cachera (Fra) , B Bozio (Fra) , J Axgren (Swe) , E Espana (am) (Fra) ,
74 I Pyman (Eng) , N Musy (Fra) , S Surry (Eng) , R Steiner (Aut) , O Whiteley (Eng) , M Thorp (Nor) , E Dubois (Fra) , L Moolman (RSA) , J Moul (Eng) , W Besseling (Ned) , T Stewart (Aus) , D Antonelli (Fra) , S Buhl (Ger) , L Bond (Wal) , R Martinazzo (am) (Fra) ,
75 N Porteboeuf (Fra) , B Ritthammer (Ger) , M Rominger (Sui) , S Reale (Ita) , S Lewton (Eng) , J Guillet (Fra) ,
76 L Claverie (Esp) , E Chaudouet (Fra) , S Walker (Eng) , R Gallardo (Esp) , P Kaensche (Nor) , A Saddier (am) (Fra) ,
77 F Colombo (Ita) , R Bechu (Fra) , J Clément (Sui) ,
78 J Xanthopoulos (Fra) , C Gallois (Fra) , R Schneider (Fra) , B Chapellan (Fra) ,
79 N Bruzelius (Swe) ,
81 G Rosier (Fra) , A Maublanc (Fra) ,
82 K Blais (Fra) ,

 Graeme Storm weathers windy conditions at Loch Lomond

FROM THE SCOTSMAN.COM WEBSITE
IT WAS Graeme Storm rather than Graeme McDowell who shone as the Barclays Scottish Open began in windy conditions at Loch Lomond today.
McDowell was making his first appearance since capturing the US Open title three weeks ago and was one under after 10 holes, but he then bogeyed at three of the next five.
Storm, who started with a 65 last year, scored one worse than that, but it was good enough to join Italian Edoardo Molinari as the early leader.
They were one ahead of Scot Stephen Gallacher in the £3million event, while Storm's fellow Englishman David Horsey, winner of the BMW International Open two weeks ago, was in the group two behind following a 68.
McDowell had said on the eve of the event that he will never get sick of being introduced as the US Open champion, but it did not happen this morning.
The official starter opted merely for: "On the tee, from Northern Ireland, Graeme McDowell."
The 30-year-old did, however, walk off the tee arm-in-arm with one of his playing partners.
Miguel Angel Jimenez won the French Open on Sunday, so they had plenty to celebrate and chat about between them.
McDowell had warned people not to expect great things from him this week and the dropped shots on the second, fifth and sixth after he had turned in 35 suggested some mental tiredness.
Molinari is the older brother of Francesco, who lost a play-off to Jimenez in Paris at the weekend, and they are both battling for a Ryder Cup debut at Celtic Manor in October.
Francesco stands eighth, whileCollated first round scores from the European Tour's Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond in Scotland.

FIRST ROUND
Par 71
65 Darren Clarke
66 Damien McGrane, Edoardo Molinari (Ita), Graeme Storm
67 Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn), John Daly (USA), Stephen Gallacher, Peter Hedblom (Swe), Johan Edfors (Swe), Bradley Dredge, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha)
68 Anthony Wall, Francesco Molinari (Ita), Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Mikael Lundberg (Swe), John Parry, Shane Lowry, David Horsey, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe)
69 Richie Ramsay, Anders Hansen (Den), Rhys Davies, Heath Slocum (USA), Pablo Larrazabal (Spa), Sam Hutsby, Alexander Noren (Swe), Ernie Els (Rsa), Richard Green (Aus), Ignacio Garrido (Spa)
70 Craig Lee, Robert Jan Derksen (Ned), Christian Nilsson (Swe), Rory Sabbatini (Rsa), Chris Wood, James Kingston (Rsa), Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Retief Goosen (Rsa), Danny Willett, Rafael Echenique (Arg), Mark Brown (Nzl), Peter Lawrie, Alejandro Canizares (Spa), Gregory Havret (Fra)
71 Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Ross Fisher, Joost Luiten (Ned), Martin Kaymer (Ger), Simon Dyson, Kenneth Ferrie, Dale Whitnell, Niclas Fasth (Swe), Michael Jonzon (Swe), Martin Laird, Christian Cevaer (Fra), Jeppe Huldahl (Den), Shiv Kapur (Ind), Graeme McDowell, David Howell, Gareth Maybin, Richard McEvoy, Scott Drummond, Tom Lehman (USA), Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), David Lynn, George Coetzee (Rsa), Raphael Jacquelin (Fra), Phil Mickelson (USA), Brett Rumford (Aus), David Drysdale, Trevor Immelman (Rsa), David Dixon, Gregory Bourdy (Fra), Camilo Villegas (Col), James Kamte (Rsa)
72 Seung-yul Noh (Kor), Mikko Ilonen (Fin), Oliver Wilson, Steven O'Hara, Jamie Elson, Felipe Aguilar (Chi), Jose-Filipe Lima (Por), Vijay Singh (Fij), Robert Rock, Alastair Forsyth, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa), Y.E. Yang (Kor), Richard Bland, Steve Webster, Marcel Siem (Ger), Julien Quesne (Fra), Alvaro Quiros (Spa), Simon Khan, James Morrison, Robert Allenby (Aus), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Ariel Canete (Arg), Tano Goya (Arg), Jyoti Randhawa (Ind)
73 Andrew Butterfield, Thomas Aiken (Rsa), Soren Hansen (Den), Stephen Dodd, Marc Warren, Markus Brier (Aut), Pablo Martin (Spa), Marcus Fraser (Aus), Lucas Glover (USA), Nick Dougherty, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind), Paul Broadhurst, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg), Rick Kulacz (Aus), Fabrizio Zanotti (Par), Mark Foster, Thomas Levet (Fra), Peter O'Malley (Aus)
74 Clodomiro Carranza (Arg), Danny Lee (Nzl), Gary Boyd, Steve Marino (USA), Sam Little, Michael Hoey, Hennie Otto (Rsa), Colin Montgomerie, Scott Strange (Aus), Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel), Maarten Lafeber (Ned), Andrew Dodt (Aus), Fred Funk (USA), J.B. Holmes (USA), Paul Lawrie, Jamie Donaldson, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra), Paul McGinley
75 Neil Cheetham, Robert Coles, Phillip Price, Andrew Coltart, Ross McGowan
76 Francois Delamontagne (Fra), Byeong-Hun An (Kor), Thomas Bjorn (Den), Paul Waring, Michael Watson (USA), Jose Manuel Lara (Spa)
77 Daniel Vancsik (Arg), Anthony Kang (USA), Martin Erlandsson (Swe)
78 Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa)
79 David Law, Marco Ruiz (Par), Peter Whiteford, Richard Finch
80 Michael Campbell (Nzl)
81 Gary Lockerbie, Jin Jeong (Kor)

And the winner is ... Remo Fueg from Switzerland (image by Andy Forman)

Swiss Star Fueg is Scottish Under-16s Open champion

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE SCOTTISH GOLF UNION
Switzerland’s Remo Fueg is the new Scottish Boys Under 16s Open Stroke Play Champion after clinching a narrow one-shot victory over Scotland’s Bradley Neil in an exciting final day at Auchterarder.
The 16-year-old from Zurich, who currently resides on the Australian Gold Coast, fired a final round 71 to finish with a one-over par aggregate of 208, one clear of Blairgowrie’s Bradley Neil who just missed out on a famous double having collected the national under 14s title twelve months ago. Redbourn’s Nick Ward, joint overnight leader with Fueg, slipped back to third spot on three-over par, while Peebles youngster Craig Howie tied fourth with South African Haydn Porteous.
Breezy conditions coupled with lightening quick greens made for a testing final day on the Perthshire course, although that didn’t hinder first round leader Porteous, who stormed back into contention with a superb final round 65 to seize the early clubhouse lead. However it was Fueg and Ward who were locked in a tense battle in the final game, with Neil always a threat in the game ahead.
The young Swiss star parred the opening four holes but spilled two shots at the 5th before birdying the ninth to regain the lead at level par. He bogeyed the 11th but a two at the short 14th followed by a birdie at the 15th put him back to one-under par. A further bogey followed at the 17th and a loose tee-shot on the par three final hole added to the tension, but he played an exquisite chip to ten feet and two putted for the bogey he needed to win. Ward had an outside chance to force extra holes, but three-putted from just off the green to finish two adrift.
Neil, who defends his U14s title on the same course tomorrow, was one-under par for his last four holes and just missed his birdie at the last which would have taken him into a play-off while his Scotland U16s team-mate Craig Howie also had a final round 70 to round off a good week in a tie for fourth.
A delighted Fueg, one of six young Swiss golfers to play in the championship, said:
“I hadn’t been playing too well at the start of the year but I managed to find something in my game recently which gave me confidence coming into this week. Auchterarder was a great test of golf and although it’s relatively short, the strong wind and fast greens made it a real test of golf.”
“You need a good short game to score round here and fortunately mine was good all week. It’s great to win an event of this stature and I’d like to thank the Swiss Golf Federation for supporting me and my team-mates on our trip to Scotland.” added the Year 11 student, who is a member of both Bubikon in Switzerland and The Colonial in Australia.
Neil, who continued his excellent form this week, commented:
“I’m really pleased with how I played this week and I hit the ball well today without holing too many putts. Wining the double was at the back of mind but I stayed focused and hung in there to give myself a chance. Hopefully I can play well again tomorrow in the Under 14s although the course will be playing tough with the wind getting up.”
FINAL TOTALS
Par 207 (3x69). CSS 69 70 69
208 FÜEG, Remo (Switzerland) 70 67 71.
209 NEIL, Bradley (Blairgowrie) 65 74 70.
210 WARD, Nick (Redbourn) 69 68 73.
211 PORTEOUS, Haydn (South Africa) 65 81 65, HOWIE, Craig (Peebles) 73 68 70.
213 KELLY, Patrick (Boston West) 69 70 74.
215 ALLAN, Lawrence (Alva) 71 72 72, GAULD, Robert (Cruden Bay) 71 70 74.
216 BLANEY, Anthony (Liberton) 69 74 73, SCOTT, Ewan (St Andrews) 67 73 76.
217 HOLT, James (Wilpshire) 73 76 68, FARRELL, Cameron (Cardross) 74 72 71, HENDRY, Daniel (United Arab Emirates) 72 73 72.
218 NILSSON, Anton (Sweden) 74 74 70, STEWART, Greig (Crieff) 70 76 72, McDOUGALL, Alasdair (Elderslie) 68 77 73.
219 BEMBERG, Louis (Switzerland) 70 76 73, CHALMERS, Craig (Lenzie) 72 72 75.
220 BROWN, Daniel (Bedale) 75 73 72, MacINTYRE, Robert (Glencruitten) 75 72 73, SCOTT, Jake (Strathlene) 76 70 74, WILSON, David (Troon Welbeck) 73 72 75.
221 CHANT, Connor (Betchworth Park) 69 78 74, FLANNERY, Daniel (Peebles) 73 73 75, ALDRED, William (Mid Herts) 72 73 76.
222 CARRELL, Andrew (Peterculter) 74 76 72, CARRICK, Angus (Douglas Park) 78 70 74,  MARCHBANK, Greig Dumfries and Galloway) 70 77 75, WALKER, Euan (Kilmarnock Barassie) 76 71 75, IFF, Mike (Switzerland) 73 73 76, BRYDON, Ross (Merchants of Edinburgh) 71 73 78, BOWDEN, Euan (Glen) 72 72 78.
223 JOHNSTON, Fraser (Longniddry) 74 76 73, KINSLEY, Benjamin (St Andrews) 75 73 75, SINGH BRAR, Jack (Bramshaw) 72 75 76, HILL, Calum Muckhart 69 77 77.
224 STEVEN, James (Kirkhill) 73 77 74, ANDERSON, Craig (Sandyhills) 76 74 74 +17
225 WHANNEL, Scott (Newton Stewart) 72 78 75.
226 PARMAR, Jevann (Leicestershire) 71 75 80.
227 STOKOE, Ben (Betchworth Park) 73 77 77, BLAIR, Stuart (Royal Musselburgh) 77 72 78.
228 BURNS, George (Williamwood) 73 75 80.
229 CARNEGIE, Blair (Dunblane New)73 77 79, LAMB, Christopher (Newmachar) 73 75 81, GEORGE, Lewis (Delamere Forest) 71 77 81.
232 FERNANDEZCANO, Miguel (Mexico) 72 78 82.

England trio for this week's Chiberta Grand Prix in France

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ENGLISH GOLF UNION
Daniel Wasteney (Bondhay, Yorkshire), who has made rapid progress within Yorkshire golf in a short space of time, is representing the EGU for the    first time in the four-day Chiberta Grand Prix tournament, starting n Biarritz, in southwest France today.
He is accompanied by Tom Boys (Royal Liverpool, Cheshire) and Jack Hiluta (Chelmsford, Essex) in a three-strong party that will seek further success in the French event.
Wasteney, 18, only took up golf four years ago but has already made an impact, shooting 67 at Ganton last year when he broke into the Yorkshire first team. Recently, he shot a course record 66 at Wallasey in the Northern Group Qualifying, finishing second in the individual ranking on 138.
Boys, 19, a former Cheshire Under 15 and Under 16 Champion, won the Fairhaven Trophy in 2008 when he was also capped by England for the Boys Home Internationals. Last year, when a member of the England Under 18 Squad, he topped the Northern Group Qualifying, lost a play-off for the Canadian Junior Challenge and also represented the EGU in South Africa and the United States.
Hiluta, 21, currently at college in America, was a boy international in 2006 and ’07, being England Boy Captain in the latter. Also in 2007, he finished tied fourth in the Carris Trophy and reached the quarter finals of the British Boys Championship. He also represented GB and I in the Jacques Leglise Trophy that year and was a member of the England A Squad in 2009.
The Chiberta Grand Prix is medal stroke play over 72 holes with a halfway cut. There is also a team event over the first two days, the best two of the three cards to count. English players have been prominent in the event previously. James Crampton took the individual title in 2004 and Luke Goddard in 2007 when England also took the Nations Cup with colleagues Miles Mackman and Sam Hutsby.