A superb round of 66 which included no less than seven birdies helped Florian Fritsch to the outright clubhouse lead midway through the opening day of the Telenet Trophy at Ravenstein Royal Golf Club of Belgium.
The German, playing in just his second Challenge Tour event of the year after losing his card on The European Tour last year, put his success down to an ability to bounce-back from adversity and that stood him in good stead right from the off after he bogeyed the opening hole.
He followed that up with two successive birdies and again he made up for a bogey on the seventh by birdieing the next hole. The back nine was far more solid for the 26 year old as the putts started to roll in and he signed for a five under par 66.
“I started really ugly with a big snap hook but I found it and somehow made bogey,” said Fritsch. “Then I stiffed a nine iron on two to a few feet and then birdied the third, where my playing partner Paul Dwyer actually had a hole in one.
“I just kept plodding along then and saved a few pars and came back nicely after my bogey on seven, with a birdie. That’s something I guess I've been doing better recently; bouncing back.
“On the back nine I got the putter working and I didn’t drive it wayward at all, hit the greens and got a few putts and used my chances when I had wedges into the green. I actually holed a chip shot on the 17th so that was nice to go from a possible bogey to a birdie. I'm really pleased with five under.”
There was an international flavour one shot further down the leaderboard as two Koreans, three Spaniards and a Frenchman were tied for second on four under par.
Todd Baek, a 20 year old Challenge Tour debutant from Korea, was one of the surprise names and having teed off on the 10th hole, he almost joined Fritsch at the top before a bogey on the seventh pegged him back.
Baek, who has lived in New Zealand for most of his life, had a great start to his Challenge Tour career as he birdied both the 11th and 12th holes before a bogey on the 16th was followed by birdies on the 17th and 18th.
He gained further shots at the first and fifth before dropping one at the seventh and finishing with two pars.
“I played solid today,” said the former San Diego State student, “I actually lost my ball on the 16th hole but managed to make bogey so that was a good recovery. I started on 10th and had a good start, with the birdies at the 11th and 12th but I left a lot out there so I played really well. I putted well too so that helped a lot.”
He was joined on four under by compatriot Byeong-hun An, Carlos Aguilar, Agustin Domingo and Pedro Oriol of Spain and France’s Victor Riu, while Matteo Delpodio and Sebastian Garcia Rodriguez were a shot further back in tied eighth.
