After opening the European Challenge Tour’s Open des Volcans Challenge de France with a bogey five, Iceland’s Birgir Hafthorsson kept his cool and recovered in some style to take the first round lead at Golf des Volcans after an opening round of five under par 66.
The last time Hafthorsson was playing golf in France – three weeks ago at the dual ranking Aa St Omer Open – he picked up a neck injury and was forced to take time out to recuperate at home in Iceland.
From his opening tee shot at the Golf des Volcans, it looked as though he had yet to fully recover from that injury as he pulled his drive into trees on the left of the tenth fairway and was forced to hack his ball out of trouble which meant having to start the day with a dropped shot.
But he soon banished any lingering doubts about injuries, and indeed, bad shot making, as he racked up five birdies and an eagle three en route to carding the best round of the day that saw him take a one shot lead from Argentina’s Miguel Carballo and Johan Edfors of Sweden, with four players sharing third place on three under par.
That quartet – Welshman Sion Bebb, England’s Andrew Butterfield, Ariel Canete of Argentina and Mattias Nilsson of Sweden – all posted first round scores of 68 on a cold damp day at the 7054 yard par 71 Golf des Volcans in France’s Auvergne region, with a further ten players grouped together on two under par.
Hafthorsson was more than pleased with his start to the tournament, given the way his day began, coupled with the fact that he had not struck a ball competitively since his last visit to France three weeks ago.
“I’m happy with the start,” confirmed the Icelander. “I made a lot of good shots out there today after a poor start off the tenth tee. I pulled my drive into the trees and couldn’t do much but make bogey and get out of there. But after that it came together and I played nicely. I just made one more bogey when I didn’t get up and down but there were five birdies and an eagle in there which was quite encouraging.
“I haven’t played since picking up an injury in St Omer. I hurt my neck after a good start to the tournament that week which forced me to rest for the last two weeks, so that is another reason why it was nice to recover from that bad start today and put a good score together because I was wondering if the neck would hold up alright and it seems to be fine.”
