In Scotland, at the Newmachar Golf Club, the 1st round of the Farmfoods Scottish Challenge supported by The R&A ends, led by Nathan Kimsey. The 29-year-old Englishman, in search of his first title on the Challenge Tour, scores seven birdies in a bogey free lap (64 strokes) and is 1st on the leaderboard, just one shot away from fellow countryman Marco Penge.
Nathan Kimsey, statements
“It was a good day,” he said. “I played solidly all 18 holes and the conditions were pretty calm this morning (no wind) which helped me score a -3 on the first nine holes. The start was exactly what I needed and I managed to keep pushing on the second nine as well, reaching -7 ”.
Scotsman Craig Lee and Icelandic Haraldur Magnus share third place, at -5. The 45-year-old Scotsman scores 4 birdies on the first 4 holes, followed by as many bogeys on the remaining first nine and closes the second with another 5 birdies.
In 5th position, at -4, we find the English Todd Clements, the Swiss Jeremy Freiburghaus, the Spaniard Pedro Oriol, the Dane Martin Simonsen and the “home player” Daniel Kay. The 1st blue in the leaderboard is Jacopo Vecchi Fossa, who completes the first 18 holes of the Farmfoods Scottish Challenge in 69 strokes (-2) and is 15th in the leaderboard.
Starting among the last teams of the afternoon, when the wind was already intense, Lorenzo Scalise closes the 1st round in PAR (71 strokes) and is 52nd. 69th place for Aron Zemmer, who turns in 72 strokes (+1). Share the 107th place, at +3, Enrico Di Nitto and Matteo Manassero, both started in the afternoon wind.
He closes the Italian ranking, with a +5 of the day, Federico Maccario. From 26 to 29 May the Challenge returns to Scotland, after a 4-year absence on the Tour Calendar. The first edition of the Farmfoods Scottish Challenge will be in Aberdeenshire at Newmachar Golf Club and will be supported by the R&A.
In 2013 the then “Scottish Challenge”, stage of the European Challenge Tour, saw the winner Brooks Koepka, who earned the “promotion” on the DP World Tour thanks to the third victory of the season at the Macdonald Spey Valley, becoming the winner of well 4 Major.
Newmachar Golf Club is one of Scotland’s premier golfing facilities and boasts two fantastic 18 hole courses: Hawkshill and Swailend. The Farmfoods Scottish Challenge will take place on Hawkshill Championship Course, a picturesque moorland course in Aberdeen which is particularly complicated.
In the entry list, together with the winners and protagonists of the current season, such as the French Clement Sordet, the German Alexander Knappe, the New Zealander Daniel Hillier and the Dane Oliver Hundeboll there will be 5 blues.
We will closely follow Enrico Di Nitto and Matteo Manassero, who distinguished themselves last week in Spain, Lorenzo Scalise, Jacopo Vecchi Fossa and Federico Maccario. More than 150 champions will compete for a prize pool of £ 230,000.
