Report from Challenge Tour in Poland

Besseling’s birdie blitz shoots him to the top

From Paul Symes, Challenge Tour Press Officer
Five consecutive birdies on the back nine shot Wil Besseling of the Netherlands to the top of the leaderboard on eight under par 62 on Day 1 of the inaugural DHL Wroclaw Open on the European Challenge Tour.
Standing on the 13th tee at Toya Golf and Country Club in Wroclaw, Poland, Besseling trailed the early clubhouse leader Jean-Nicolas Billot of France by three shots. But some scintillating golf saw the Dutchman better Billot’s round of 64 by two strokes, and so set a new course record.
Challenge Tour rookie Besseling, who already has one victory to his name at the II Club Colombia Masters, said:
“That first win gave me a lot of confidence, and set me up for the rest of the season. It made me re-think my priorities and realise that it’s possible to get onto the European Tour. I know Joost Luiten very well. What he did last year was great, and if I can do the same I will be very pleased.”
In the morning session Billot had countered the cold weather with some hot scoring, collecting seven birdies and a solitary bogey.
The man from Lyon, who was joined on six under par 64 later in the day by Sweden’s Kasper Jorgensen, is seeking to better his only top 20 finish so far this season, at the AGF-Allianz Côtes d’Armor Bretagne in his native France.
He said: “My results this season have been OK. I’ve made every cut so far, but not come close to winning. My best finish so far was tied 19th in Brittany. If I can finish higher here, I will be a very happy man.”
Meanwhile England’s Gary Boyd, aged 21, credited Manchester United’s Champions League victory for his round of 66. He said: “I was still pumping with adrenaline this morning – I think that’s what spurred me on over the closing holes.”
Leading scores:
Par 70
62 W Besseling (Ned).
64 J-N Billot (Fra), K Jorgensen (Swe).
65 J Garcia (Esp), A Tadini (Fra).
66 M Cort (Eng), B Pettersson (Swe), M Ruiz (Par), A Willey (Eng), T Feyrsinger (Aut), M Eliason (Swe), G Boyd (Eng), G Clark, A McArthur (Sco), J Hepworth (Eng), O Floren (Swe), A Salto (Esp), B Weisberger (Aut), J Rask (Swe).
67 G Plumet (Fra), J Wahlqvist (Swe), R Treis (Ger), J Quesne (Fra), R Ramsay (Sco).
68 F Calmels (Fra), I Del Castillo (Esp), M Dieu (Fra), S Garcia-Grout (Esp), B Grace (RSA), J Haeggman (Swe), R Karlberg (Swe), B Mason (Eng), J Moul (Eng), E Rush (Eng), W Schauman (Swe).
Other scores:
71 S Henderson (Sco) (jt 90th).
73 G Murray (Sco) (jt 125th).
78 R Russell (Sco) (jt 151st).