Aa Saint Omer Golf Club put up a stiff challenge in the wind for the first round of the Hauts de France-Pas de Calais Golf Open as the pack struggled their way around, with only twelve of the 66 managing to break par.
Three-under was the ceiling for the field as a group of five share the lead overnight. Sander Aadasaar, French amateur, Aaron Van Hauwe, Alvaro Hernandez Cabezuela, Nicolas Aparicio and Brandon Kewalaramani share that honour, one stroke clear of a French duo including Théo Boulet who tie sixth spot.
Paul McBride leads the Irish charge after difficult days for both him and Robert Moran in the tricky conditions in France.
McBride was one of many to fall foul of the challenging conditions, starting on the back nine. A pair of pars to start were followed by a double on the 12th. Two more bogeys on the par-five 14th and again on the 18th saw The Island player turn on four-over. His woes continued on the par-four third with another double, followed directly by a single bogey, dropping the 28-year-old down to plus seven.
Redemption followed however, as McBride put on a show of resilience with a determined run home. Three shots were snatched back on the trot from the par-four fifth hole onward, and he would close out his day with one more on his final hole, the ninth. His three-over opening round leaves him still in the mix, six off the lead on a tough scoring day, and well placed to make the action on Saturday.
Moran too had his travails having begun on the 10th, but unlike McBride, he couldn’t seem to pull it back on his way home. Five bogeys saw him turn on five under and three more came at the start of his homeward leg. He would manage two birdies on the fifth and his final hole of the day, the ninth, but these were undone by a disappointing double on the par-five seventh. He sits eight over and in search of a big day on Friday to make up ground to what will be an interesting cut line of the top 30.
Sixteen-year-old French Amateur Aaron Van Hauwe was on hand to give his thoughts as he shares the overnight lead on three-under. “Overall, it was a very good day, my driving was average at the beginning of the round, but I was still able to hit most of the fairways,” reflected the young home favourite. “My iron game and putting especially my lag putts as well as from three to six-meter range were very solid today and that helped me a lot. That’s what allowed me to put together a good round.”
Sharing the lead with Van Hauwe, Cabezuela gave his thoughts on the conditions after his round. “Today was tricky, I found most of the round to be complicated with the windy conditions,” said the Spaniard. “I played well, though, overall, I began with a bogey on hole 2, then a birdie on hole 3 and another bogey on the 4th hole. It was an up-and-down beginning, that’s for sure, but then I was able to birdie 3 holes in a row from holes 9 to 11 and another one on the 15th hole.” He went on to add, “I played very well all around and barely missed any shots. I felt that I left some shots out there, but we always do, we always try to look for perfection but I’m pretty happy with the opening round overall.”
Friday’s action kicks off with the Irish pair in matches one and three in the morning. Both are away from the first hole with McBride first out at 8.20am with Moran following him out just ten minutes later. Both will hope for kinder conditions to keep in contention for the top thirty and Saturday golf in Saint-Omer.