YOUNG GUNS SHOOT THE LIGHTS OUT AT AVIEMORE

                  

 

REPORT BY NEIL AHERN
nahern@europeantour.com

Two former amateur stars, Byeong-hun An of South Korea and 

Alan Dunbar (picture by courtesy of Getty Images(c) of Northern 

Ireland, put on a world-class display at the Scottish Hydro 

Challenge hosted by Macdonald Hotels and Resorts 

as they both carded stunning nine-under-par rounds of 62 to share 

the lead after day one.

The European Challenge Tour is regarded 

as the best school for fledgling golfers to 

develop from promising amateurs to 

polished professionals and this was 

certainly a case of gifted young stars 

coming of age.

South Korean An, the 2009 US Amateur 

Champion who holds the record as the 

youngest winner of the prestigious event, 

and  2012 Amateur  Champion Dunbar 

have both shown in the non-paid ranks that they have the talent 

to reach the headiest heights of the game.

And in an incredible morning at Macdonald Spey Valley Golf Club,

Aviemore in the Cairngorms, they both proved that they can also 

cut it in the professional ranks with superb performances.

Dunbar got off to a poor start after teeing off at the 11^th, bogeying 

his opening two holes, but that did not deter the 23 year old as he 

fired 11 birdies to smash the course record almost exactly a year 

after his biggest win as an amateur.

“I was in just the zone,” said Dunbar, whose Amateur 

Championship win came at Royal Troon. “I’ve been  

playing well all year now, shooting good scores but missing the cut  

by a couple of shots. It’s good to put it all together and have a  

strong round.

“I felt like a round like this was coming. I have been saying to my coach that I am playing well, and most of my rounds could easily have been four or five better. Even after the start I was confident of hitting good shots.”

 

Barely 30 minutes after Dunbar came in with that record-

breaking score, the American-based An also signed for a 62. In 

contrast to Dunbar, An did not card a single bogey as he shot nine 

birdies on the way to his lowest round as a professional.

 

“I really like this course but it’s actually fairly hard,” said the 

21  year old. “There are some hard holes. It is pretty long and 

gets pretty tough if you don’t drive it very well. I missed the cut 

last year but this year I guess it suits me better.

“I was never thinking about 59 to be honest,” he continued. “I 

fired well on the front nine but the back nine is definitely harder. I 

just wanted to make par on the harder holes – 11 and 12 are the 

hardest - and just get through those holes and see what happens.”

Spaniard Sebi Garcia was a shot back after carding an eight under 

par 63 while there were seven players three shots further back on 

six under par, including former Challenge Tour Grand Final winner 

Andrea Pavan and local favourite Duncan Stewart, who lives at 

Grantown on Spey,  just 15 minutes from this week’s venue.

  ALL THE FIRST-ROUND SCORES

  Par 71

62 B An (SKor) , A Dunbar (Nir) 

63 S Garcia (Esp) 

65 N Lemke (Swe) , J Dantorp (Swe) , A Pavan (Ita) , D Stewart (Sco) , T Hatton (Eng) , D Frittelli (RSA) , J Watts (Eng) 

66 G Cambis  (Fra) , C Russo (Fra) , E Dubois (Fra) , J McLeary  (Sco) , J Carlsson (Swe) , T Remkes (Ned) , A Velasco (Esp) , J Doherty  (Sco) 

67 K Ferrie (Eng), J Moul  (Eng) , P Doherty (Sco) , J Lima  (Por) , S Tiley (Eng) , T Murray (Eng) , L Kennedy  (Eng) , P McKechnie (Sco) , M Lorenzo-Vera  (Fra) , B Hebert  (Fra) , S Walker (Eng) 

68 K Borsheim  (Nor) , G Dear (Sco) , T Nørret (Den) , S Parry  (Eng) , J Gibb (Eng) , C Kelly (Sco) , M Trappel  (Aut) , P Maddy (Eng) , G Hutcheon (Sco) , N Fenwick (Sco) , D Dixon (Eng) , J Guerrier  (Fra), S Manley (Wal), R Kellett (Sco), J Huldahl (Den) , J Mommo  (Fin) , G Wright  (Wal) 

69 A Bernadet  (Fra) , P Cutler (Nir) , A Johnston (Eng) , A Forsyth (Sco) , P Edberg (Swe) , R Enoch  (Wal), C Moriarty (Irl) , S Kim (Kor) , F Bergamaschi (Ita) , M Sell  (Eng), R Russell (Sco) , N McCarthy  (Eng) , A Gee  (Eng) , G Murray  (Sco) , G Shaw (Nir) , J Mikkelsen (Nor) , T Pilkadaris (Aus) 

70 L Corfield  (Eng) , A McArthur  (Sco) , T Pieters  (Bel) , J Hepworth (Eng) , B Koepka  (USA) , J Fahrbring (Swe) , M Ford (Eng) , N Kearney (Irl) , J Abbott (Eng) , R Quiros  (Esp) , L Saltman (Sco) , V Riu  (Fra) , L Bond (Wal), L Bjerregaard  (Den) , J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 

71 M Kerr  (Sco) , T Sluiter  (Ned) , E Saltman  (Sco) , B Etchart  (Esp) , N Quintarelli (Ita) , Z Saltman (Sco) , D Geminiani (Ita) , L Goddard  (Eng) , N Ravano (Ita) , P Relecom  (Bel) , D Kemmer (USA) , T Haylock  (Eng) , D Wuensche  (Ger) , A Domingo (Esp) , S Hutsby  (Eng) , S Henderson (Sco) , F McGuirk  (Eng) , F Calmels  (Fra) , L Claverie (Esp) , R Dinwiddie  (Eng) 

72 E Johansen  (Nor) , A Perrino  (Ita) , G Houston (Wal) , O Rozner  (Fra), S Hodgson (Eng), T Fournier  (Fra) , N Elvira  (Esp) , D Law (Sco) , D Griffiths  (Eng) , O Wilson (Eng) , P Archer (Eng) , O Whiteley (Eng) , M Novy  (Cze) , N Dougherty  (Eng) , S Dodd (Wal) , P Oriol (Esp) , B Parker  (Eng) 

73 J Senior (Eng) , F Colombo (Ita) , J Timmis (Eng) , M Haines  (Eng) , C Gane (Eng) , J Ruth  (Eng) , P Dwyer (Eng) , S Whiffin (Eng) , J Glennemo (Swe) , D Vancsik (Arg) 

74 M Stewart (Sco) , P O'Keeffe  (Irl) , B Dredge (Wal) , W Booth  (Sco) , S Davis (Eng) , J Lando Casanova  (Fra) , C Aguilar  (Esp) , B Chapellan (Fra) , D Perrier (Fra)

75 J Maurer  (Aut) , S O'Hara  (Sco) , L Clarke  (Eng) , C Brazillier  (Fra) , S McAllister (Sco) , D Im (USA) , J Howarth (Eng) , M Haremza (Ger) , C Ford (Eng) , M Haastrup  (Den) 

76 Å Nilsson (Swe) , O Bekker (RSA) , C Trahan (Sco) , F Cromarty (Sco) , W Besseling  (Ned) 

77 D Wright (Eng) 

78 S Park (SKor) , F Svanberg  (Sui)

79 R Saxton (Ned) , N Floren (Swe) 

80 D Waite (Eng) 

81 S Garcia Rodriguez (Esp)