The HotelPlanner Tour’s GAC Rosa Challenge Tour got underway at Rosa Golf Club in Poland on Thursday with two Northern Irishmen in the field.
32-year-old Dermot McElroy sits 97th in the HotelPlanner Tour rankings as the Ballymena native checked out his opening round at three-over-par.
McElroy began his day in a steady manner with three birdies in the first nine holes along with a bogey on the par-4 sixth hole.
Hoping to put that behind him, it all went wrong for McElroy on the par-4 12th hole as an accumulation of errors seen the 32-year-old score a quadruple bogey which inevitably derailed the chance of a low scoring round.
McElroy replied the best way he could with a birdie on the 13th hole, but another bogey followed on the par-4 16th.
McElroy will need a major push if he is to make the cut, something he failed to do last week at the Dormy Open in Sweden, as he sits in T116.
McElroy has proved he has it in him to be among the top of the pack, as only three months ago he achieved his highest finish of the season with a T3 at the Challenge de Cadiz in June.
Fellow Northern Irishman Jonathan Caldwell also struggled to keep his scorecard under par as the 41-year-old posted a five-over-par round one.
It was a stop-go start for Caldwell, making two bogeys and a birdie on the first five holes.
A sore double-bogey came at the par-3 eighth as the Down native managed one birdie and three more bogeys on his way into the clubhouse, posting a 75 to end his round one sitting in T138.
Caldwell, who is 132nd in the HotelPlanner Tour ranking has made seven cuts so far this season on the Tour, and he really has his work cut out for him if he is to make it eight this weekend.
At the other end of the leaderboard, we have a three-way tie for first as six-under-par was the score to beat on day one.
The lead is shared by England’s John Gough, Welshman Toby Hunt and Spain’s Sebastian Garcia.
26-year-old Gough was showing his youthful class, making seven birdies in 15 holes until a bogey came at the par-4 16th.
“There’s a lot of golf to play but all you can do on day one is go out there and try to get yourself into the tournament,” said Gough.
Crediting his short game, Gough said “it’s been a few rounds under par now, so it was nice to keep it going. I got a bit fortunate on the last hole, but apart from that I wedged it pretty well today, and I think around here you can take advantage of that.
32-year-old Toby Hunt managed to card a bogey-free round, with three birdies on the front and back nine.
“I’m not the shortest hitter but I’m not the longest hitter either, so a lot of the doglegs I’m able to hit a little cut driver into places where I’m not running out, but I’m carrying the bunkers,” said the Welshman.
A birdie on the final hole for Garcia saw him join the top of the leaderboard.
“I played very solid,” he said. “Today the putter was working and this was my score. I’m very happy,” added Garcia.
Round two is set to begin on Friday at 8:00am Irish time.
Leaderboard
