Dermot McElroy posted an impressive bogey-free five under par 66 to set the pace after round one of The Dutch Futures at The Dutch, Spijk, The Netherlands on Thursday.
The Irish golfer, starting on the first, made three birdies on the front nine to turn in 32. Seven straight pars followed on the back before he closed out his round with back-to-back gains, which included a hole out on the par five 18th.
The 32-year-old, who sits one shot clear at the top of the leaderboard, was pleased with his first round effort in testing conditions at The Dutch.
Tricky conditions
“It was very tricky out there today,” he said. “I think there were only two holes, one into the wind and one downwind, the rest were crosswind, so it was quite tricky.
“The front nine was reasonably calm but, as I say, there were a lot of crosswinds, and it was quite gusty.
“It was hard to tell if it was slightly into or slightly down, which caught me out a couple of times, especially with the wedge shots.”
McElory has missed three consecutive cuts on the Road to Mallorca and currently sits 94th in the Rankings with six events to play before the Rolex Grand Final supported by The R&A.
McElroy hoping for good week
However, after starting the week positively in the Netherlands, the Irishman is optimistic about his changes heading into the latter stages of the season.
“A good week here would be huge,” he added.
“To be honest, I’ve played terrible all year barring one good result. I’ve been practicing really hard all season, and I’m really pleased with how I am starting to hit the ball.”
“I think I did everything well out there today. I drove the ball well and my iron play was good. I only missed a couple of greens and managed to get up and down.”
Frenchman Nathan Legendre and Scot Euan Walker sit one shot back on four under par. Spanish duo Lucas Vacarisas and Santiago Tarrio, French pair Maxence Giboudot and Andoni Etchenique, New Zealander Sam Jones, German Tiger Christensen, the UAE’s Joshua Grenville-Wood and South African Daniel van Tonder all sit at three under par.
Select scores after round one (Irish players in bold):
66 D MCELROY,
67 N LEGENDRE (FRA), E WALKER (SCO),
68 S TARRIO (ESP), A ETCHENIQUE (FRA), J GRENVILLE-WOOD (UAE), T CHRISTENSEN (GER), L VACARISAS (ESP), M GIBOUDOT (FRA), D VAN TONDER (RSA), S JONES (NZL),
71 J MADDEN, J AXELSEN (DEN), Q VIDAL (ESP), V VAN VEEN (NED), L NOLAN, T LEWIS (ENG), G BLOOR (ENG), B KEWALRAMANI (USA), B KEDOCHIM (FRA), B SKOGEN (NOR), A SETTEMSDAL (NOR), K KIM (AM) (ENG), T SCHMIDT (AM) (GER), J QUESNE (FRA), H HOPEWELL (AUS), F CELLI (ITA), M KENNEDY, C JACOBSEN (DEN), A MAGUIRE, N INFANTI (USA),
72 D MULLIGAN, A KLEEN (SWE), S MANLEY (WAL), A ZEMMER (ITA), J PERICO (PER), O HUGGINS (ENG), B BROWN (ENG), S LOCKE (SCO), R EVANS (ENG), S MULLANE (AM) (UAE), O WILSON (ENG), J G?TH-RASMUSSEN (DEN), W NIENABER (RSA), J RUTHERFORD (ENG), J CALDWELL, A HERNANDEZ CABEZUELA (ESP), M BESARD (BEL), B BAWDEN (ENG), J MURPHY,
74 P MCBRIDE,
75 J GALBRAITH, R MORAN
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