A flawless six under par round of 66 saw European Tour champion Raymond Russell of Scotland join the English duo of Paul Dwyer and Ally Mellor at the top of the leaderboard on day one of the inaugural Turkish Airlines Challenge hosted by Carya Golf Club.
In near perfect scoring conditions at Carya Golf Club in Antalya, Turkey, which was praised by Mellor as “probably one of the best courses we’ll play on all season”, the 1996 Air France Cannes Open winner Russell plundered six birdies to continue a fine run of recent form which saw him win a fortnight ago on the Alps Tour, one of the Challenge Tour’s approved satellite Tours.
After a frustrating loss of form in recent seasons Russell lost his playing privileges on both The European and Challenge Tours, but the 37 year old is now attempting to rebuild a career which started so brightly with that victory in Cannes in his maiden campaign.
Russell said: “I won a couple of weeks ago on the Alps Tour and had a top five finish on the ALLIANZ Tour in France a fortnight before that. So my game’s in pretty good shape. I’ve been playing over there for the past 18 months, mainly because I didn’t have a card to play anywhere else. I’ll get into the four Challenge Tour events in France this season, because of where I finished on the ALLIANZ Tour Order of Merit last year, and then after that I’ll be relying on sponsor’s invitations. Obviously the better I play the more chance I’ll have of getting invites, so there’s a great incentive for me to do well.
“Today I hit 16 out of 18 greens – it was only at the end of the round that I started hitting a few loose shots, but even then I still managed to get up and down for par. I got off to a solid start, and even though I missed a couple of birdie chances early on, I knew there’d be more. You can’t really afford to force the issue round this course, because there are a few holes where it wouldn’t be wise to attack the flag, so you have to use the contours of the green. And the rough’s quite penal in places – you can really tie yourself in knots out there. But it’s a beautiful course, and it’s in fantastic condition – especially as it’s only been open less than two years.”
Mellor was equally complimentary about the course after compiling a round of 66 which featured an eagle three at the ninth hole – and just 23 putts.
The Birmingham-born 34 year old said: “It’s a great test – probably one of the best courses we’ll play on all year. It’s my first time out here, and I’m thoroughly enjoying it. Obviously it helps that I’m playing well, but even if I wasn’t I think I’d still enjoy playing the course. My putting today was the key, which is unusual because normally it’s one of the weaker parts of my game. I only had nine putts on the front nine, including a chip-in, which doesn’t happen very often! I worked really hard on my putting stroke over the winter, and it’s nice to see that it’s paying off.”
His compatriot Dwyer, back on the Challenge Tour this season after an impressive campaign on the EuroPro Tour last year, also attributed his improved performance to a hot putter.
Dwyer, who missed the cut in his opening two events, said: “I was really pleased with how I played today, particularly on the greens. It nearly always comes down to the putting with me, and today I rolled in a few at the start to build some momentum and confidence. That was the difference between a good score and an average one. I worked really hard on my putting last year, and I hadn’t taken that into my first two events. But today was much more like it.”
Young South African Josh Cunliffe, who finished in a tie for tenth at the Joburg Open on The European Tour at the start of the season, currently shares fourth place on five under par with Frenchman Michael Lorenzo-Vera, winner of the Challenge Tour Rankings in 2007.
Cunliffe, currently 16th on the Order of Merit on the Sunshine Tour in his native South Africa, is hopeful of securing more starts on the Challenge Tour in a bid to achieve his dream of competing on The European Tour.
The 26 year old said: “I got off to a great start with four birdies in my first five holes – and the only hole I didn’t birdie was a par five! I was a bit more inconsistent on my back nine, but overall I’m pretty pleased with a 67. I want to play as much as I can to get onto The European Tour, so the better I play, the more chance I’ll have of achieving that. I’ve been having a pretty good season so far on the Sunshine Tour, so my game’s in good shape.”
Lorenzo-Vera matched Cunliffe’s round of 67 with a flawless display which included three birdies and an eagle three at the 14th hole.
Play was stopped just after 7pm local time due to the threat of lightning. Three groups will return at 8.30am on Friday morning to complete their rounds.
