Gareth Maybin shoots a 62 in
the heat of China Challenge

FROM PAUL SYMES, EUROPEAN CHALLENGE TOUR PRESS OFFICER
A breathtakingly brilliant round of 62 saw Northern Ireland’s Gareth Maybin take control on the first day of the inaugural Qingdao Golf Open on the European Challenge Tour.
Maybin matched the soaring temperatures at Qingdao Huashan Golf & Resort in Qingdao, China, with some blistering strokeplay to move to ten under par, three shots clear of his nearest challengers, Norway’s Lars Brovold and Scotland’s Greig Hutcheon.
With €56,049 on offer to the winner this week, and an even bigger prize fund available in Kazakhstan next week, Maybin – currently in 15th place in the Challenge Tour Rankings – could not have found form at a better time.
But having come close to victory four times this term, the man from Belfast is refusing to get carried away with his career-best performance.
He said: “It was a once in a blue moon, maybe once in a lifetime round, but it’s only the first day. If I go and shoot 75 tomorrow, it will have been a waste of time. But obviously I’m delighted – it’s not every day you shoot a 62. In fact, I’ve never done it before! At least it goes some way toward making up for the disappointment of the last two weeks, when I missed the cut and then missed a really short putt to make the play-off the week before in the Czech Republic.
“But I’m moving in the right direction. I drove the ball well, and I hit it close with my irons on most holes. I’ve probably also got a bit of an advantage on the greens, because I got used to putting on this type of grass when I was in college in America. The course isn’t easy though – but maybe I just made it look easy!”

Whilst perhaps less spectacular, Hutcheon’s flawless round of 65 was no less impressive, given that he was forced to withdraw from last week’s tournament with a leg injury.

The Scot admitted he had struggled with his game in Gothenburg seven days ago, but welcomed a return to form in time for the “big fortnight” which he feels will make or break his season.

Hutcheon said: “I need a big week here, and then another next week, so I can take a couple of weeks off – because I really need them. I’ve made a good start – it was just one of those days when most things seemed to go my way. But I’ve learned from bitter experience that tomorrow can just as easily go the other way.”

Hutcheon’s round of 65 was matched by Brovold, who posted nine birdies.
Richie Ramsay’s fine run of recent form continued with a round of 67.
Ramsay hit a hot streak to post four successive birdies and move to five under par. Having achieved his first objective of securing a maiden professional title with victory at the Vodafone Challenge three weeks ago, Ramsay has now targeted a top 20 finish in the Challenge Tour Rankings to secure a place on The European Tour for the first time.
With the biggest prize fund of the regular Challenge Tour season so far up for grabs in China, Ramsay’s round – which started with two bogeys – has considerably enhanced his prospects of improving on his current position of 18th.
The former US Amateur Champion said: “I just need a good finish either here or next week in Kazakhstan, and I’ll shoot right up the Rankings. Now that I’ve got my first win as a professional under my belt, the next objective is obviously to get my European Tour card.
“The victory was so important, because I now know exactly what’s needed, whereas some of the guys might put too much pressure on themselves because they’re trying too hard to win. It’s happened with a few guys that when they’ve won once, the next victory doesn’t take too long. Hopefully that’s the case with me.
“My game’s in good shape at the minute. Obviously I got off to a fairly shaky start, but I feel I’m mentally tougher now and I was able to dig myself out of a hole. The key was my approach play, because most of the time I left myself with only five or six foot putts.”
Another Scot who was pleased with his morning’s work was Steven O’Hara, who shot a flawless round of 69. O’Hara is still searching for his maiden victory, but his consistency has propelled him to 11th position in the Rankings and within sight of a place at golf’s top table.
He said: “A win here and I’d be virtually there, so that has to be my aim – or a top five finish at the least. I’m feeling good and I’m having fun out on the course, which is a pretty good combination.”
The man he has to catch is Norwegian Brovold, who closed with four birdies for a superb round of 65. Another player with cause for cheer was Alexandre Rocha, who struck a perfect three iron for an ace on the 233-yard fifth hole. The hole in one lifted the Brazilian’s spirits after he had been struck on the head by an errant drive in Wednesday’s Pro-Am.
FIRST ROUND
62 G Maybin (Nir).
65 L Brovold (Nor), G Hutcheon (Sco).
67 F Calmels (Fra) ; G Molteni (Ita) ; J Sköld (Swe) ; D Horsey (Eng), R Ramsay (Sco).
68 I Van Weerelt (Ned) ; C Monasterio (Arg) ; R Cabrera Bello (Esp) ; L Guo-Jie (Chn) ; R De Sousa (Sui) ; J Quesne (Fra) ;
69 R McEvoy (Eng) ; M Korhonen (Fin) ; J Morgan (Eng) ; O Floren (Swe), L Saltman (Sco) ; A Marshall (Eng), S O'Hara (Sco),; A Rocha (Bra) ; J Sjoholm (Swe).
70 M Haastrup (Den) ; R Steiner (Aut) ; E Goya (Arg) ; D Drysdale (Sco) ; J Morrison (Eng) ; B Grace (RSA) ; G Clark (Eng) ; J Haeggman (Swe) ; A Garcia-Heredia (Esp) ; R Karlberg (Swe) ; K Jorgensen (Den) ; A Tampion (Aus) ; C Brazillier (Fra) ; S Jeppesen (Swe) ;
71 A Högberg (Swe) ; M Cort (Eng) ; R Treis (Ger) ; A McArthur (Sco) ; K Eriksson (Swe) ; A Ahokas (Fin) ; L Gui-Ming (Chn) ; T Ferreira (RSA) ; E Ramsay (Sco) ; G Lockerbie (Eng) ; M Ruiz (Par) ; B Pettersson (Swe) ; R Bland (Eng) ; G Rojas (Arg) ; A Tadini (Ita) ; A Hansen (Den) ; A Butterfield (Eng) ; L An-Lin (Chn) ; M McGeady (Irl) ;
72 Y Zheng (Chn) ; J Larsen (Nor) ; C Xiao-Long (Chn) ; E Rush (Eng) ; X Xiao-Xuan (Chn) ; J Heath (Eng) ; S Saavedra (Arg) ; R Kakko (Fin) ; W Lei (Chn) ; W Ashun (Chn) ; L Gagli (Ita) ; J Huldahl (Den) ; W Wei-Huang (Chn) ; S Juul (Den) ; Y Hao (Chn) ; L Chao (Chn) ; M Higley (Eng) ; L Bond (Wal) ; Y Xiong-Hui (Chn) ; M Tullo (Chi) ; H Wei (Chn) ;
73 J Makitalo (Fin) ; Z Jun (Chn) ; Y Wen-Zhang (Chn) ; A Snobeck (Fra) ; C Moriarty (Irl) ; T Remkes (Ned) ; M Monguzzi (Arg) ; T Cruz (Por) ; G Lei (Chn) ; K Wei-Hai (Chn) ; B Wiesberger (Aut) ;
74 J Billot (Fra) ; M Morris (Eng) ; H Ming-Jie (Chn) ; H Shao-Cai (Chn) ; X Qin (Chn) ; A Gee (Eng) ; R Santos (Por) ; M Zions (Aus) ; P Kaensche (Nor) ; C Gane (Eng) ; M Hoey (Nir) ; C Jian (Chn) ; I Garbutt (Eng) ; J Wade (Aus) ; A Bernadet (Fra) ; W Kang-Chun (Chn) ; H Wen-Yi (Chn) ;
75 G Shu-Tao (Chn) ; Y Quan (Chn) ; S Lei (Chn) ; L Xin (Chn) ; X Zhi-Jin (Chn) ; Y Gen-Dong (Chn) ; G Murray (Sco) ; T Karjalainen (Fin) ; F Xin (Chn) ; D Chen (Chn) ; G Cui-Lin (Chn) ; S Davis (Eng) ; A Willey (Eng) ; Z Lian-Wei (Chn) ; S Robinson (Eng) ; C Xiao-Ma (Chn) ; Y Jian-Feng (Chn) ;
76 J Little (Eng) ; G Acosta (Arg) ; C Del Moral (Esp) ; S Browne (Irl) ; F Zhi-Peng (Chn) ; F Tai (Chn) ; H Yong-Huan (Chn) ; L Jun-Feng (Chn) ; W Wei (Chn) ;
77 H Chun-Xi (Chn) ; D Yu-Chao (Chn) ; L Anda (Chn) ; G Boyd (Eng) ; Y Jin-Biao (Chn) ; C Qiang (Chn) ; S Ke (Chn) ; Z Xin-Jun (Chn) ;
78 W Besseling (Ned) ; W Hong-Fu (Chn) ; M Rodriguez (Arg) ; Y Tian (Chn) ; T Ye (Chn) ;
79 D Yong-Hong (Chn) ;
80 T Feyrsinger (Aut) ; X Se (Chn) ; L Yu-Xiang (Chn) ; Z Xio-Ngyi (Chn) ;
82 W Li-Gui (Chn) ;
83 Y Sheng-Qin (Chn) ;
85 W Xian-Feng (Chn) ;
190 Z Xun-Shu (Chn) ; R Coles (Eng) ; G Hui (Chn) ; C Yu (Chn) ;