Edouard Dubois carded two eagles on the way to a six under par 66 and the first round lead at the Turkish Airlines Challenge, as the Frenchman chases a third career European Challenge Tour title.
The 26 year old opened his first round with a three at the par five first after firing a hybrid approach to 30 feet and holing out for the perfect start to his week.
While he couldn’t build on that fine start immediately, following it up with seven pars, a birdie at the ninth meant he reached the turn in three under. Dubois picked up another shot at the 12th hole before that was cancelled out by a bogey at the 15th, but he rallied to a strong finish with an eagle at the par five 17th and a birdie at the last.
The two-time Challenge Tour winner was delighted with his round on a Gloria Golf Resort lay-out which he believes suits him down to the ground.
“I had a great start and then I just played really solid,” he said. “I didn’t make any mistakes, my putting was good and then I had a really good finish.
“There are five par fives and on all of them we can reach them in two shots so if you play well on the par fives this week you will do well.
“Its’ a really good course and I really enjoy playing it. You need to keep it straight with the driver and I’m good at that so it’s a good course for me.”
Having graduated from the Challenge Tour in 2011 courtesy of two quick-fire wins at the Kärnten Golf Open presented by Mazda and the Scottish Hydro Challenge, Dubois knows what it takes to make the climb to The European Tour through this route.
Last year, he watched on as four Frenchmen finished in the top 15 of the Rankings and made the step up, so he is keen to repeat his feat of four years ago and join his compatriots and friends on the top tier next year.
“I have the same coach as Edouard Espana and Benjamin Hebert,” he said. “When I see them on The European Tour this year I just want to be with them so hopefully I can do that this year.”
One shot back from Dubois are former European Tour winner Fredrik Andersson Hed and Denmark’s Mads Søgaard, with the Swede looking to make a return to The European Tour, where he has played 15 full seasons.
The 43 year old opened with a birdie at the ninth – where the back nine starters are beginning this week – before carding two sets of back-to-back birdies at the 12th and 13th and the 17th and 18th.
His only bogey of the day at the fourth was put right straight away with a birdie at the fifth and the 2010 Italian Open winner was happy with how he negotiated the tricky tree-lined course in the golf resort town of Belek.
“I got off to a good start with the birdie on and went five under after four more birdies,” said Andersson Hed, who also has a Challenge Tour title to his name. “I didn’t play fantastic in any way but I didn’t hit any bad shots either.
“I kept the ball in play and took my chances when I got them, especially on the par fives. I hit a few really good shots and then I kept it going with a good save for par at the sixth, after going into the trees from the tee.
“I always liked tree-lined courses and I really like this one. It’s tough off the tee and you need to keep it on the fairway to get a decent shot in but if you hit it into the trees normally it just comes straight down and you have some kind of shot in, maybe around another tree.”
This will be Andersson Hed’s first Challenge Tour season in six years and the Halmstad player is determined to finish in the top 15 of the Road to Oman Rankings to return to where he belongs.
“I’m going to play all Challenge Tour this year,” he said. “If I wanted I could probably get a few starts on The European Tour but it seems pointless to just play a few on there - even if you play well it’s not really going to get you anywhere.
“I hope I can get another title on the Challenge Tour this year, having played well on The European Tour for many years. But the guys out here are really good players so it’s not going to be easy. Hopefully I can play well enough to get enough results to finish in the top 15.”
Andersson Hed was joined on five under par by Søgaard, who started poorly with a bogey at the par five sixth before bouncing back in impressive fashion with four birdies and an eagle to card a 67.
There were five players in a share of fourth place on four under, while former European Tour-winning Welshman Rhys Davies was among those a shot further back on three under.
