Alvaro Velasco leads Norwegian Challenge at Norges Golfforbund
Alvaro Velasco has a one-stroke lead over Matt Haines coming into the second round of the Norwegian Challenge, where mild weather yesterday led to low scores at Norges Golfforbund.
Velasco parred each of the first three holes that he played. He started off on the back nine of the course. The 13th hole saw him make the first birdie of his round, followed by another two in regulation.
Moreover, he eagled the par-five 17th hole and surged to the top of the leaderboard early in the round.
Another three birdies against a lone bogey on the front nine allowed him to take a commanding lead and no one else matched his score till the end of the round. His final score was seven-under par 65.
According to him, par-five holes were the easiest to be taken advantage of, as one can easily create birdie chances on them.
“I really enjoyed it today,” Velasco said. “The weather stayed good and my game was good so it was a nice day for me. I started really well and I didn’t finish great but I hung in there to get some pars”.
“Three out of four of the par-fives are reachable so there are good chances for birdies out there and there are a few short par fours but there are some tough holes too and the short holes can be tough if you don’t play the right shots so it’s a fair course,”
he added.
He told that he had been playing really good golf in the past few months. However, his scores did not portray what he did on the course.
Therefore, he brought some changes in his playing technique, which can tackle minor mistakes on the course and keep him going on the right track.
He believes that driving the ball well will be the key in Norway. Therefore, he plans to remain focused on his game off the tee, which, according to him, can earn him his first victory of the 2012 golf season.
Meanwhile, Haines recorded a six-under par 66 and remained one stroke shy off the leader. A huge pack of 12 players were tied for the third position with a five-under par 67.
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