Apulia San Domenico Grand Final begins in Italy
The final leg of the 2012 European Challenge Tour, the Apulia San Domenico Grand Final, finally started at the San Domenico Golf in southern Italy, on Wednesday, October 24, 2012.
The tournament is featuring the top-45 player in the European Challenge Tour Rankings, who are battling out there for the 21 European Tour cards on offer for the 2013 golf season.
At the end of the first round, a number of players exhibited some scintillating performances and are in good position to achieve their target.
Dutchman Wil Besseling fired a six-under par 65 and finished just one stroke behind the leaders, Marco Crespi of Italy and Frenchman Michael Lorenzo-Vera.
He currently holds the 29th position in the rankings and desperately needs a strong finish to make it into the top-21.
Chris Lloyd is also in a pole position to earn his rookie season card for the European Tour next year. He opened his round with a bogey on the first hole but bounced back strongly with a run of three birdies on the next four holes.
After recording pars from the sixth to the twelfth hole, he once again picked up some pace. He birdied four of the last six holes to share the third spot on the leaderboard.
He ranks 27th in the list and is desperate to move to the bigger stage next year. According to the golf commentators, he is among the hot favourites to earn his card because of his good form in the recent tournaments.
Raymond Russell, who is just one spot away from earning a full-time playing status, made a positive start by carding a five-under par 66 to share the eighth position on the leaderboard.
More or less, he only needs a top-10 finish this week to achieve what he came for in Italy. There were a few other players who battled through the tough playing conditions and posted some good scores on the leaderboard.
James Busby, who was the last player to qualify for the tournament this week by taking the 45th place in the rankings, carded a 66 and finished tied for the eighth position. His round included a total of six birdies and a lone bogey.
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