HENRY LEADS THE SCOTS AT EUROPEAN CHALLENGE TOUR EVENT IN FRANCE

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FROM THE FIRST DAY

Scott Henry was the top Scot with a 72 in the first round of this week's European Challenge Tour event - the Najeti Hotels et Golfs Open - hosted by Aa St Omer Golf Club, St Omer in France.

SCOTS' SCORES
72 Scott Henry (T15)
73 Alastair Forsyth, Gary Orr (T22)
74 Lloyd Saltman (T40)
75 Raymond Russell, Callum Macaulay, Jamie McLeary (T59)
78 George Murray, Steven O'Hara (T144)


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Van der Walt tops the Tjaart in Saint Omer

Tjaart Van der Walt enjoyed a perfect start to his debut at the Najeti Hotels et Golfs Open presented by Neuflize OBC as the South African made light of difficult conditions to take a one shot lead thanks to a steely four under par opening round of 67.

In extremely windy conditions at Aa Saint Omer Golf Club in northern France, Van der Walt managed to drop just a single shot as five birdies took him clear of Frenchman Victor Riu, who finished birdie, birdie, eagle en route to a 68.

Van der Walt started steadily with seven pars, after teeing off at the tenth early in the day, before birdies at the 17^th and 18^th took him to the turn in two under and three birdies on the back nine, allied with a single bogey at the par four third, handed him the outright lead.

“I managed the ball really well today,” said the 38 year old. “I have been doing that well the last few weeks but the putting hasn’t been great. I holed a few putts today which was good.

“I made a nice one on 17, from about 30 feet and downhill which broke about six feet, and another at 18 too, but all credit to the greenkeepers because they slowed the greens down a little and if they didn’t do that there would be putts going off the green in that wind.”

Van der Walt has had limited starts in The Race to Dubai this season but the George native believes a good week at Saint Omer could turn his fortunes around.

“You have to take your opportunities on tour and I didn’t opt to play this one last year,” he said. “I think this year it could be a good decision. I am not in the field for the BMW International Open next week and a good finish here could maybe get me in there. If I keep playing well, anything is possible so we’ll see what happens.”

Riu, another morning starter, was the highest-placed Frenchman after negotiating his final three holes in four under par to finish in second place as the afternoon groups struggled to cope with increasing winds.

Meanwhile, third-placed Daniel Brooks of England produced a marvellous comeback, after a triple-bogey at the 14^th, his fifth, meant he was four over through five holes before two birdies and two eagles earned him an unlikely two under par 69.

Brooks’ compatriot Simon Dyson sits five shots off the lead after three bogeys in the final four holes meant he had to settle for a one over par 72.

FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 72 

67 T Van Der Walt (RSA) ,

68 V Riu  (Fra) ,

69 D Brooks (Eng) ,

70 D Gaunt (Aus) , O Rozner  (Fra) ,

71 Å Nilsson (Swe) , E Dubois (Fra) , J Walters (RSA) , A Gee  (Eng) , T Pilkadaris (Aus) , C Hanson (Eng) , T Fournier  (Fra) , R McEvoy  (Eng) , S Wakefield (Eng) ,

72 S Henry  (Sco) , R Dinwiddie  (Eng) , C Suneson (Esp) , R Kakko  (Fin) , O Floren  (Swe) , B Chapellan (Fra) , P Maddy (Eng) , S Dyson  (Eng) , J Lagergren (Swe) ,

73 A Kaleka  (Fra) , G Orr (Sco) , D Griffiths  (Eng) , J Dantorp (Swe) , P Dwyer (Eng) , F Calmels  (Fra) , J Garcia Pinto (Esp) , D Vancsik (Arg) , A Forsyth (Sco) , M Zions (Aus) , P Oriol (Esp) , P Archer (Eng) , L Claverie (Esp) , A Tadini (Ita) , F Praegant (Aut) , C Russo (Fra) , J Lando Casanova  (Fra) , J Huldahl (Den) , S Kim (Kor) , C Lloyd (Eng) , M Lundberg (Swe) , D Im (USA) ,

74 M Lampert (Ger) , A Marshall (Eng) , S Little (Eng) , P Edberg (Swe) , A McArthur  (Sco) , J Lima  (Por) , L Saltman (Sco) , G Houston (Wal) , M Korhonen (Fin) , B Hebert  (Fra) , A Domingo (Esp) , M Jonzon (Swe) , S Thornton (Irl) , T Pulkkanen  (Fin) , A Pavan (Ita) , F McGuirk  (Eng) , S Arnold  (Aus) , W Besseling  (Ned) , A Otaegui  (Esp) ,

75 F Colombo (Ita) , R Han (Chn) , J McLeary  (Sco) , L Goddard  (Eng) , J Lopez Lazaro (Fra) , B Dredge (Wal) , C Macaulay  (Sco) , L Weber (Fra) , M Nixon (Eng) , J Elson  (Eng) , M Crespi  (Ita) , R Quiros  (Esp) , J Moul  (Eng) , A Perrino  (Ita) , T Hatton (Eng) , O Bekker (RSA) , R Saxton (Ned) , T Murray (Eng) , S Benson (Eng) , T Nørret (Den) , C Brazillier  (Fra) , B Koepka  (USA) , T Remkes (Ned) , R Russell (Sco) , G Stal  (Fra) , M Decottignies-Lafon (am) (Fra) ,

76 N Dougherty  (Eng) , J Howarth (Eng) , G Boyd  (Eng) , C Ford (Eng) , G Shaw (Nir) , M Sell  (Eng) , M Brier (Aut) , J Glennemo (Swe) , C Paisley  (Eng) , A Snobeck  (Fra) , T Sluiter  (Ned) , A Rota (Ita) , K Ferrie (Eng) , C Kim (USA) , B An (Kor) , A Schwartz (Fra) , A Bernadet  (Fra) , M Laskey  (Wal) ,

77 S Piaget  (Mon) , C Monasterio (Arg) , B Parker  (Eng) , J Timmis (Eng) , M Delpodio  (Ita) , D Frittelli (RSA) , C Aguilar  (Esp) , M Glauert (Ger) , D Perrier (Fra) , T Fisher Jnr (RSA) , S Dodd (Wal) , R Davies (Wal) , D Dixon (Eng) , D Van Der Walt (RSA) , A Levy (Fra) , S Walker (Eng) , G Cambis  (Fra) , M Lorenzo-Vera  (Fra) , F Lamare (Fra) ,

78 A Johnston (Eng) , M Southgate  (Eng) , D Higgins (Irl) , M Tullo (Chi) , A Velasco (Esp) , J Senior (Eng) , G Murray  (Sco) , J Ruth  (Eng) ,

79 L Jensen (Den) , O Whiteley (Eng) , S Kapur (Ind) , C Del Moral (Esp) , D Kemmer (USA) , S Manley (Wal) , N Ravano (Ita) , J Guerrier  (Fra) , F De Vries  (Ned) ,

80 S Tiley (Eng) , M Haines  (Eng) , J Barnes (Eng) , T Haylock  (Eng) , H Bacher (Aut) , S Hutsby  (Eng) ,

81 K Borsheim  (Nor) , O Wilson (Eng) , P Relecom  (Bel) ,

82 B Åkesson (Swe) , F Delamontagne  (Fra) , S O'Hara  (Sco) ,

 

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