Freddy Schott claimed the first round lead at the Frederikshavn Challenge – presented by HESSEL after setting a new course record with a seven under par round of 65.
The German continued his excellent recent form, which has seen him secure five top tens in his last seven starts, by posting a bogey-free opening round at Frederikshavn Golfklub to take a one-stroke lead into the second day ahead of Portugal’s Pedro Figueiredo and Spaniard Manuel Elvira.
The 21-year-old played nicely in keeping bogeys off the card on a warm day in Denmark, but saw two good birdie chances at the 17th and 18th slip by as he missed the opportunity to extend his lead further.
“It was very good,” he said. “I holed some nice putts today, was good off the tee, didn’t miss many greens, only missed two greens, so I’m very happy with that today.
“I missed two putts which I saw quite nicely, so I’m a little bit disappointed, but at the end of the day it was a very good round and I’m happy to be on the leaderboard.
“I had a call with my mental coach before the round and he said no bogeys today, and that’s what we did so I’m very pleased with that. I’m just trying to keep my head down for tomorrow and trying to do the same thing.”
Schott already has five top five finishes to his name this season, helping him to his current position of 11th on the Road to Mallorca Rankings, and he has adopted a smart approach this week as he looks to cement his place inside the top 20.
“If the pin was on the right, I didn’t try to go right at it sometimes, it depends on the club you have in, obviously, but you need to try and use your chances, but you can’t try to go for too much,” he said.
“It’s the first tournament with my caddie on the bag again, he was on vacation, so I told him my gameplan and it worked out quite nicely again. I’m happy to have him back.”
Road to Mallorca Number Two Oliver Hundebøll shares fourth place with Portugal’s Vitor Lopes on five under par, while eight players are a shot further back in a tie for sixth.
England’s John Parry, who posted a three under par round of 69, got off to the perfect start with a hole-in-one on the second early in the day, holing out from 185 yards with a seven iron.
