Robert Dinwiddie moved into the clubhouse lead midway through the second day of the Najeti Hotels et Golfs Open presented by Neuflize OBC as the more favourable conditions at Aa Saint Omer Golf Club began to show on the leaderboard with scores going lower and lower.
Dinwiddie’s five under par 66 was not the lowest score of the morning groups but it was the most significant as he moved to within one shot of leader Tjaart Van der Walt, who opened his round with a birdie to maintain his outright lead on five under.
The Englishman, a three-time winner on the Challenge Tour, enjoyed a flawless round after teeing off at the tenth with three birdies on the opening nine, including two in a row at the 14th and 15th, as well as two on the way home to move him to four under par for the tournament.
Dinwiddie was delighted with his round, especially given that he had considered withdrawing after aggravating an ongoing back injury on the Tuesday before the tournament.
“I played really steady so I’m happy,” said the 30 year old. “The weather was much easier today and I played just as well yesterday but the weather just helped.
“I know the course very well and I have a lot of good feelings around here. I'm sure that I won’t be leading if the weather stays good but I'm in a good position no matter what.
“I holed two really good putts for birdie, first at 14 - that one was from about 30 feet - and then a 25 footer at 15. I hit it to about five feet at 17 and holed that before knocking it stone dead on five for birdie. Then I hit a nine iron into about seven feet and holed that for my last birdie.
“Considering I didn’t think I would be teeing it up, after taking a bad step on Tuesday morning and damaging a bad disc in my back, it was great.
“I couldn’t hit a ball on Wednesday so I honestly thought I had no chance, but I just iced it and took a lot of anti-inflammatories and recovered so it was great.”
Simon Wakefield was a shot further back on three under par after he added a 68 to his level par opening round to move into contention at a tournament in which he finished third last year.
