Tomas Gouveia posted a sensational ten under par round of 61 to jump into a two-stroke lead on the opening day of the Kaskáda Golf Challenge.
The Portuguese fired eight birdies and an eagle without a bogey late on day one to lead by two shots from South African Bryce Easton and German Jannik de Bruyne on a low-scoring day in Brno.
The 29-year-old, who has struggled to find consistency through the opening 11 weeks on the Road to Mallorca, was delighted with all facets of his game on day one.
“I was able to put everything together which is something that I haven’t done this season,” he said. “When that happens, I know I can shoot low scores.
“Today it was that day where everything went well. I made some putts, hit the ball really close to the hole and I’m very happy to be in the position I’m in.
“If you look at my scores in the first rounds this year, they haven’t been great, so it’s a boost to put that score together today.
“My main focus was to get the bogeys and the mistakes out of the way because I’ve been making enough birdies this season to shoot a good round but just making a lot of bogeys. I was able to do that which was perfect.”
Gouveia admits that finding fairways is the key to success at Golf Resort Kaskáda, as well as reading the undulating greens that the parkland course presents.
“Off the tee is the main key this week,” he added. “If you hit the fairways you can have a lot of chances, and if you’re putting well you’ll do well.
“I was hitting great drives, great shots into the greens and I was seeing the lines really well on the greens.
“I didn’t see one on hole 17, but on every other hole I could just see the ball going in. When that happens, you just have to take advantage of it and that’s what I did.”
Dane Hamish Brown signed for a seven under par round of 64 to move into fourth place, ahead of six players who sit one stroke further back in fifth, including Englishmen George Bloor and Joshua Berry, Frenchmen Alexander Levy and Pierre Pineau, Finn Oliver Lindell and Marc Warren from Scotland.
Round two gets under way at 7:30am local time with Gouveia teeing off at 8:50am alongside George Mason and Jamie Rutherford from England.
