Monday, October 24, 2016

THREE SCOTS IN TOP 10 AT MUSCAT

Scots professionals Clarke Lutton, Daniel Kay and Jack McDonald, were sharing eighth place on two-under--par 70 after the first round of the MENA Tour's Ghala Open at Muscat, the capital city of Oman today (Monday).
Kay had an eagle and six birdies but a double bogey 6 at the 18th, as well as four bogeys, prevented him from finishing the day much closer to the Dutch leader by two, Fernand Osther, who had a six-under 66.

Rookie McDonald had five birdies but bogeyed the first, 14th and 18th.
The Doherty brothers, Paul and Jack, had rounds of 74 and 75 respectively.


LEADING FIRST-ROUND SCORES
par 72
66 F Osther (Ned)
68 M Calderon (Chile) (am), L Trocado (SAf).
SCOTS' SCORES
70 C Lutton, D Kay, J McDonald (T8)
74 P Doherty (T50).
75 J Doherty (T59).
Field of 92 players.



Osther fires a sizzling 66 to take a two-shot

 lead at Ghala Open


MUSCAT — Fernand Osther fired a sizzling six-under 66 to set the early pace in the MENA Golf Tour’s Ghala Open today at Muscat, the capital city of Oman.
The talented 28-year-old from the Netherlands reeled off five birdies and one eagle against a lone bogey to surge a good two shots clear of rising Chilean amateur Matias Calderon and South Africa’s Luke Trocado.
Joe Heraty, the winner of the Sahara Kuwait Championship last week, led the chasing pace a further shot adrift in a four-man group which included his fellow Englishmen Andrew Marshall and Adam Ward and Switzerland’s Jean-Luc Burnier.
The Moroccan trio of Ahmed Marjan, Younes El Hassani and Mustapha El Maouas also made their presence felt, sharing eight on two-under with eight others as 28 players broke par on the opening day.
“Any time you shoot in red numbers you can’t complain. I started off strongly, making three birdies in a row from the second and that kind of set the tone for the round,” said Osther, who is playing in his first season on the MENA Golf Tour.

“I did hit a couple awkward drives, but managed to save pars. I am feeling good about my game which is great,” said Osther, eagled the par-13th, hitting his seven-iron from 200 yards to 15 within feet and holed the ensuing putt.
South Africa’s Trocado felt he struck the ball well, especially off the tee. “I created plenty of scoring opportunities out there with my wedges, but the putts just refused to go in,” said Trocado.
“I missed only one green — on the 18th — and that resulted in a bogey. I think my score could easily have been at least four or five shots better, but failed to capitalize on many birdie chances that I had today,” said the 20-year-old from Cape Town.
Fresh off his course-record equaling 62 he shot last week in Kuwait, Calderon also sounded quite pleased with his day’s efforts.
“I played solid golf out there. Hit lots of fairways and putted well. I lost my focus for a while midway through the round, but managed to keep the round, making three birdies in the last six holes,” said, who finished in a tie for third last week.
“It’s very important to drive the ball well off the tee on this course since the fairways are quite narrow. I managed to do that and finished well,” said the 24-year-old amateur.
For Heraty, the winner of last week’s Sahara Kuwait Championship, the opening round was a mixed bag. “I holed lots of putts and missed lots of them as well. I didn’t drive the ball that well on the front nine, but made more birdies.
‘On the back nine, I struck the ball, but ended up making more bogeys. That pretty much sums up the day for me,” said the Englishman, who made five birdies, including four on the outward nine, and two bogeys.
Clarke Lutton from Aberdeen, Dunbar's Daniel Kay and Ayrshire rookie Jack McDonald share the honour of being leading Scot after the trio all shot two-under-par 70s to be tied eighth.
Kay had a double bogey 6 at the 18th after earlier having an eagle 3 at the par-15 13th and three birdies in a row from the 15th to the 17th.
Kay had five birdies, offset by bogeys at the first, 14th and 18th. 
The Doherty brothers, Paul and Jack, had rounds of 74 and 75 respectively t5o be played T50 and T59 in a field of 92 playes. Paul had a double bogey 6 at the the eighth
Among the notables, England’s Zane Scotland and Carlos Balmaseda settled for two-over 74s while defending champion Lee Corfield carded a 75.
South Africa’s Michael Dreyer produced the shot of the day when he aced the par-3, fifth with a seven-iron from 157 yards for his first hole-in-one feat in a competition.

FIRST-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 72
66 F Osther (Ned)
68 M Calderon (Chile) (am, L Trocado (SAf).

SCOTS' SCORES
70 C Lutton, D Kay, J McDonald (T8)
74 P Doherty (50)
75 J Doherty (T59).


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