Record breaking Huldahl shows
the way in Norway
A course record six under par 66 gave Denmark’s Jeppe Huldahl the early lead in the first round of the Lexus Open on the European Challenge Tour at the Moss & Rygge GK in Norway.
The 26 year old from Holstebro was in sparkling form at the Dilling venue to take a one shot lead over Chile’s Mark Tullo with a further nine players only one shot behind having opened up with four under par 68s in the 22nd event of the 2008 European Challenge Tour season.
Huldahl currently lies 17th in the Challenge Tour Rankings with the top 20 players at the end of the season earning playing privileges by right for The 2009 European Tour.
“I am pretty pleased with the way the season has been going,” said Huldahl. “I have been playing some good stuff and it is nice to be able to post a good score like I did today – I struck the ball well and hopefully I can move on and take advantage of that over the next three days.”
The Dane could already have had his maiden victory tucked away after leading going into the final round of the Scottish Challenge at the Macdonald Cardrona Hotel in Peebles at the end of June. But he was overtaken for the first prize on the last day by Dutchman Taco Remkes.
“Obviously it was disappointing not to win in Scotland but to be fair Taco played some great golf in the final round so I didn’t really feel like I lost that tournament, I felt he won it. But it was great experience being in the final group of a tournament and hopefully, if it happens again this week, I can use that experience to my advantage.”
Huldahl began his first round at the tenth with seven straight pars before his challenge ignited around the ‘turn’ with a birdie at the 17th, an eagle three at the 18th thanks to a sensational second three wood second shot from 240 yards to ten feet, and a further birdie four at the first.
Although he dropped a shot at the monster 622 yard fourth hole on the way home, the former Danish Amateur Stroke Play champion more than made up for that with further birdies at the third, fifth and seventh holes.
Second placed Tullo is another man looking for his maiden victory on the Challenge Tour having come close twice this season already with a share of fourth place in the MAN NÖ Open in Austria and a tie for sixth in the Challenge de España.
The 30 year old from Santiago produced another solid display in Norway and, unlike Huldahl, did not drop a shot in his opening five under par 67, his birdies coming at the first, third, seventh, 12th and 18th holes.
Early first round scores:
66 – J Huldahl (Den)
67 – M Tullo (Chi)
68 – S Jeppesen (Swe), P Nilbrink (Nor), S Juul (Den), S O’Hara (Sco), R Bland (Eng), F Henge (Swe), M Kurhonen (Fin), R de Sousa (Sui), B Grace (Rsa)
69 – G Acosta (Arg), M Bliss (Can), T Ferreira (Rsa), T Cruz (Por), G Davies (Eng), L Jensen (Den),
70 – A Bruschi (Ita), J Makitalo (Fin), B St John (Eng), A Mellor (Eng), L Dodd (Eng), R Kakko (Fin), T Feyrsinger (Aut), J Skold (Swe), L Gagli (Ita), J Blixt (Swe), B Miarka (Ger), E Korfstad (Nor)(am), P O’Keefe (Ire), R Russell (Sco), J Wahlqvist (Swe)
the way in Norway
A course record six under par 66 gave Denmark’s Jeppe Huldahl the early lead in the first round of the Lexus Open on the European Challenge Tour at the Moss & Rygge GK in Norway.
The 26 year old from Holstebro was in sparkling form at the Dilling venue to take a one shot lead over Chile’s Mark Tullo with a further nine players only one shot behind having opened up with four under par 68s in the 22nd event of the 2008 European Challenge Tour season.
Huldahl currently lies 17th in the Challenge Tour Rankings with the top 20 players at the end of the season earning playing privileges by right for The 2009 European Tour.
“I am pretty pleased with the way the season has been going,” said Huldahl. “I have been playing some good stuff and it is nice to be able to post a good score like I did today – I struck the ball well and hopefully I can move on and take advantage of that over the next three days.”
The Dane could already have had his maiden victory tucked away after leading going into the final round of the Scottish Challenge at the Macdonald Cardrona Hotel in Peebles at the end of June. But he was overtaken for the first prize on the last day by Dutchman Taco Remkes.
“Obviously it was disappointing not to win in Scotland but to be fair Taco played some great golf in the final round so I didn’t really feel like I lost that tournament, I felt he won it. But it was great experience being in the final group of a tournament and hopefully, if it happens again this week, I can use that experience to my advantage.”
Huldahl began his first round at the tenth with seven straight pars before his challenge ignited around the ‘turn’ with a birdie at the 17th, an eagle three at the 18th thanks to a sensational second three wood second shot from 240 yards to ten feet, and a further birdie four at the first.
Although he dropped a shot at the monster 622 yard fourth hole on the way home, the former Danish Amateur Stroke Play champion more than made up for that with further birdies at the third, fifth and seventh holes.
Second placed Tullo is another man looking for his maiden victory on the Challenge Tour having come close twice this season already with a share of fourth place in the MAN NÖ Open in Austria and a tie for sixth in the Challenge de España.
The 30 year old from Santiago produced another solid display in Norway and, unlike Huldahl, did not drop a shot in his opening five under par 67, his birdies coming at the first, third, seventh, 12th and 18th holes.
Early first round scores:
66 – J Huldahl (Den)
67 – M Tullo (Chi)
68 – S Jeppesen (Swe), P Nilbrink (Nor), S Juul (Den), S O’Hara (Sco), R Bland (Eng), F Henge (Swe), M Kurhonen (Fin), R de Sousa (Sui), B Grace (Rsa)
69 – G Acosta (Arg), M Bliss (Can), T Ferreira (Rsa), T Cruz (Por), G Davies (Eng), L Jensen (Den),
70 – A Bruschi (Ita), J Makitalo (Fin), B St John (Eng), A Mellor (Eng), L Dodd (Eng), R Kakko (Fin), T Feyrsinger (Aut), J Skold (Swe), L Gagli (Ita), J Blixt (Swe), B Miarka (Ger), E Korfstad (Nor)(am), P O’Keefe (Ire), R Russell (Sco), J Wahlqvist (Swe)
Labels: CHALLENGE TOUR
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Thursday, August 07, 2008
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home