Chris Williams birdied the closing two holes of The Celtic Manor Resort’s Roman Road course, including a chip-in from just off the green on the last, to take a two shot lead in the opening round of the 2016 SSE Enterprise Wales Senior Open.
The South African reached the turn in two under par and then had his only bogey of the day on the 13th hole sandwiched in between birdies on the 12th and 14th before back-to-back gains on the 17th and 18th holes for a five under par round of 65.
Those latter birdies moved him clear of playing partner Lianwei Zhang of China, and Englishman Malcolm Mackenzie, who finished his round of 67 with a hat-trick of birdies.
Williams ended his 2015 campaign with two top-10 finishes in the last three events, and the 57 year old is pleased to have started the new season in strong fashion.
He said: “I’m very pleased, this is a testing course. The greens are very slick and the wind, even though it dropped a little bit will make the course quite tricky.
“The wind was calmer than during the practice round and it made two-clubs difference. The weather was fantastic, and we’re lucky to have that weather here in Wales.
“To have two birdies on 17 and 18 is a bonus. I was very happy to come in with those, and it was great to chip in on the last. I do think that the last three holes will be tournament deciders.”
Five players are tied for fourth place on two under par, including 1989 European Tour Order of Merit winner Ronan Rafferty, who saved par on the 18th with a rescue club on the fringe of the green.
Gary Marks, winner of Senior Tour Qualifying School in February, also finished on two under par.
“The course is in superb condition,” Marks said. “The weather has come with it too, so it was a great day to play golf. But there were some really treacherous putts out there.
“They are probably the most challenging greens of the year – they are super-fast and really smooth. As a result of that, no-one is getting away.There are a whole stack of players on one and two under, and I’m happy to be amongst that.
“The good players on all the tours are rock solid, they don’t put down one good round and then have a bad one. They do it day after day. All of us are out here trying to win tournaments and you have to put three good scores in.
“Hopefully this is early confirmation that my end of year form in 2015 was reliable, and I want to carry that into the new season.”
Local favourite Ian Woosnam finished level par alongside playing partner, and last year’s Senior Tour Rookie of the Year, Paul Broadhurst.
