Lorenzo Scalise fired an impressive seven under par round of 64 to take a one shot lead on the opening day of the Kaskáda Golf Challenge in the Czech Republic.
The Italian, searching for a maiden win on the Challenge Tour, carded five birdies on his opening nine holes before adding a sixth at the par four 11th.
The 27-year-old’s only blemish of the day came on the par four 12th, but gains on his final two holes saw him set the early pace ahead of Spanish duo Borja Virto and Manuel Elvira, Australian Connor McKinney and Austrian Niklas Regner who share second place on six under par.
Scalise is looking to become the third Italian winner on the Road to Mallorca in the space of four weeks following the successes of countrymen Matteo Manassero and Andrea Pavan, and after taking some time off in between events, he was thrilled to get off to a solid start in Brno.
“I’m very happy,” he said. “It was flawless today and hopefully I’m going to keep that up.
“The long game was on point, and on this course that’s key. I had a good week off where I worked with my coach and I feel confident that everything is in place. My putting is good, I just need to keep giving myself chances.”
The Italian has an excellent track-record at Kaskáda Golf Resort where he finished in a tie for second in 2021 before finishing tied 13th last year, and he believes patience is the key on an unforgiving course.
“The rough is brutal. It’s a lot closer to the fairway than in previous years and it’s a lot thicker, so you have to drive the ball well to give yourself chances.
“I’m hitting a lot of drivers on this course off the tee because I feel comfortable out here. It is risky to a certain point, but I’ve tested it out on this course many times and I think I’m 33 under par on this golf course for the last nine rounds.
“It’s just going to be about the mindset. Being patient is going to be key. If I can do that better than the other guys then I could have a good chance.”
Four players share sixth place on five under par, including Hamish Brown and Lucas Bjerregaard from Denmark and Norwegian duo Elias Bertheussen and Jarand Ekeland Arnoy, with Italian Filippo Celli, Dane Nicolai Kristensen, South African Pieter Moolman and Swede Henric Sturehed one shot further back in tenth.
Round two gets under way at 7:30am local time with Scalise teeing it up alongside Spaniard Carlos Pigem and Ireland’s Paul Dunne at 1:20pm.
