Nathan Kimsey took advantage of the calm early conditions on day one of the Farmfoods Scottish Challenge supported by The R&A to post a seven under par round of 64 and open a one-stroke lead at Newmachar Golf Club.
The Englishman carded seven birdies in his bogey-free round to move one-shot clear of countryman Marco Penge, before high winds picked up in the afternoon which hindered many of their competitors.
Kimsey was delighted to make a strong start in Scotland and believes his conservative approach was paramount to successfully navigating the Aberdeenshire layout.
“It was a good day,” he said. “I played solid throughout my round and the conditions were pretty calm this morning which helped me get to three under par on the front nine. The start was exactly what I needed and I managed to keep pushing on the back nine and reach seven under.
“There are high winds forecasted for the rest of the week so I knew it was important to post a low score today and not make any silly mistakes. I just focused on keeping the ball in play, hitting greens and then luckily I rolled in some putts.”
The 29-year-old hopes that a strong performance in Scotland this week can be the catalyst for an upturn in form, after admitting he was disappointed with his start to the 2022 Road to Mallorca.
“Since the start of the year my game has felt in good shape, however in South Africa I only made one cut out of five,” he said. “It was nice to get some birdies on the card today and see everything fall into place.”
Scotland’s Craig Lee and Iceland’s Haraldur Magnus share third place on five under par, while Englishman Todd Clements, Switzerland’s Jeremy Freiburghaus, Spaniard Pedro Oriol, Denmark’s Martin Simonsen and home favourite Daniel Kay share fifth on four under.
