Saturday, November 10, 2018

Connor Syme (66) top Scot at end of Q School Day One


Daniel Gavins and Max Schmitt both birdied half of their holes in carding bogey-free rounds of 62 to take a share of the lead into Day Two of European Tour Qualifying School Final Stage.
The six-round marathon test of nerves is being contested on two courses, the Lakes Course and the Hills Course at Lumine Golf Club in Tarragona, Spain, but it was the Lakes Course that yielded the two nine-under par rounds on a calm Day One that was ideal for scoring.
“I played here two years ago at Second Stage, so I do know the Lakes Course quite well,” said Schmitt. “I started quite well today, I made par by getting up and down on the first, which was a very important one. I hit a lot of good shots, a lot of good putts and some really long putts went in today.
“I hit a lot of good shots into the green, hit it very close to the hole, so I really had to drop them.”
Despite his tender years, the 20 year old has plenty of experience in professional golf after spending the past season on the European Challenge Tour, which he will rely on with a whopping 90 holes of golf in front of him.
“It’s still a lot of golf to play,” the German said. “I’m just trying to play solid over the last five days and that’s it.
“I’ll be doing less practice after the rounds than I normally would — so just gaining energy and that’s it.
“We’ve still got a lot of golf to play and you have to be at the top of your game to play well here so I’ll just rest today and all the other days.”
For Gavins, who played on the Challenge Tour in 2014 and the European Tour in 2016, there will be no such alterations to the routine that allowed him to equal the day’s best score.
“My routine doesn’t change, it’s exactly the same for me,” the Englishman said. “Today I started pretty well with a birdie on the second hole and kind of put a few wedges pretty close early on. I drove the ball really nicely actually and the putter was really nice— I holed a lot of putts.”
The 27 year old was calm after his opening round, admitting, like Schmitt, that he does not place much emphasis on a lead with so much golf left to play.
“I had a quick look at the leaderboard but it’s not important at the minute,” he said. “There’s still a long way to go.”
Three players, Spaniard David Borda, Deyen Lawson of Australia, and Germany’s Bernd Ritthammer each fired seven under par 65s to record Day One’s low round on the Hills Course. The entire field will now switch tracks for Day Two as each of the 156 players battle to survive the 72 hole cut, which will see the top 70 and ties continue on to the final two rounds on the Lakes Course.
Full scores from today can be downloaded here: Day One Final Stage scores.pdf
SCOTS' SCORES
66 Connor Syme
67 Craig Ross
68 Marc Warren, James Ross
71 Ewen Ferguson, Danny Young
72 Duncan Stewart, Jack McDonald
74 Scott Henry, Chris Robb
75 Calum Hill

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