George Coetzee takes the first round lead at Saint-Omer Open
George Coetzee smashed a score five-under par 66 in the first round of the €600,000 Saint-Omer Open to take an early lead. The European tour event, presented by Neuflize OBC, is taking place at the par-71 Aa Saint Omer Golf Club
in Lumbres, France.
The South African chose to tee-off from the back in windy conditions and reeled two birdies against one bogey. The start was slow, but it showed an immense amount of consistency and patience. These very two characteristics took
Coetzee to the next level, where he stood with four birdies without a loss.
The 24-year-old walked towards the clubhouse with a big smile on his face and when asked to comment on his game, said, “I just kept trying to make pars, I didn’t really care about my score. I bogeyed the 13th and thought
to myself ‘I can get really mad now or I can just keep trying to make pars’. You just have to keep plugging away and not try to hit it off the planet.”
He also commented on the weather, which was wet and windy throughout the day. He said that he was lucky, as he teed-off in early timings and that served as an advantage for him.
The player went on to add, “The wind is starting to pick up now, but it wasn’t that bad this morning. I putted pretty well, that’s the reason for my score.”
Australian Matthew Zions, Norwegian Eirik Tage Johansen, Italian Andrea Perrino, Frenchman Benoit Teilleria and Danish Thomas Norret followed the leader after finishing two strokes shy of him.
The only player in the group who kept his scorecard free from bogeys was Norret, who reeled three birdies in the 18-hole session and attained 100 percent accuracy in Green Hits in Regulation. The 37-year-old returned to competitive
golf after a gap of six years. While talking to the press about his experience, the player said that he was pleased with his game, as he managed to save par in fifteen holes.
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