PGA of Great Britain & Ireland Professional, Chris Gane, got his 2016 OnCourse Golf Abu Dhabi Pro-Am campaign off and running with a smooth 71 at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club in the United Arab Emirates.
Round 01 of the inaugural Pro-Am supported by Fine & Country Golf got off to a hot and sunny start at the Gary Player-designed Saadiyat Beach course in Abu Dhabi, with teams competing over 54 holes.
Gane’s round got moving early with a birdie at the par-five second hole, followed by another on the seventh and a bogey on hole nine. It was then a case of continued ups and downs in the back nine with two birdies and two bogeys to close with a one-under par 71 and a four shot lead.
“Having not played here before you didn’t really know what you were going to face, but it was great,” said Gane. “I’m not sure you get any bad courses out here but we’ve got three great ones this week and I’d heard a lot about Saadiyat and it didn’t disappoint.”
Tied for second place at three-over par are the PGA of GB&I’s Simon Lily and Gavin Hall.
Lily too got off to a good start at one-under through four holes but a double at five and a single bogey at six knocked his progress. Through to the 14th hole, Lily managed to get back to minus one, however four bogeys in the four closing holes moved him away from Gane’s lead, finishing on 75.
“It was really tricky out there – I had a terrible finish…it’s definitely a course you need to have played [before]” said Lily. “The course is just beautiful though, the scenery is fantastic…it’s my first time here and I’d definitely come again without a doubt.”
Hall’s round was somewhat more straightforward with two bogeys and a birdie heading out, followed by three bogeys and a further birdie for his opening round of 75.
In the Team Pro-Am event it was the team of PGA of Hungary Professional, Àron Makszin, and amateurs Csaba Nagy, Zsolt Bohacs & Adam Osztovits [pictured above], who took the early honours with a 22-under 94 points score.
Team Makszin lead by eight points over the team of individual Leader, Gane, with amateurs Neil Foulkes, Andrew Doswell & Stuart Munro after their 14-under 86 points kept them just within reach of the top.
Round 02 of the 2016 OnCourse Golf Abu Dhabi Pro-Am begins at 11:00am (GMT+4) 27th April at Yas Links Golf Club, UAE.
For Full Round 01 Scores Visit: http://eur.pe/2016AbuDhabi
—————————-
For more information about the 2016 OnCourse Abu Dhabi Pro-Am visit http://eur.pe/2016AbuDhabi follow @PGAsofEurope on Twitter and search the hashtag ‘#AbuDhabiProAm‘, or like the Confederation of Professional Golf Facebook Page.
For more information on OnCourse Golf visit www.oncoursegolfme.com.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.