Liam Grehan and Jack Madden shot matching two-under-par rounds of 70 on the opening day of the Clutch Pro Tour event at Mannings Heath in southern England.
Grehan was among the early starters and after an early bogey, recovered to birdie two of the next four and make the turn at -1. Two more birdies followed on the back, making it to -3 with a ‘four’ on the par-5 17th, but he signed off with a closing bogey to slip back to -2.
Madden, fresh off his Asian Tour debut at last week’s International Series England event, started just after midday and traded a single birdie and single bogey on his front nine, and the same again over the first six holes on the back. Standing on the the 16th tee at level-par, he made back-to-back birdies on 16 and 17 and parred the last to join Grehan in the clubhouse at two-under and they’d end the day tied for 40th, five shots back.
Alex Maguire, making his first appearance on the Clutch Pro Tour, had a rather uneventful day with just one birdie and a solitary bogey as he went round in level-par and lies tied for 61st.
Brandon St. John’s struggles continued with a four-over round of 76, and he’ll need something in the mid-60s to give himself a chance of making the 36-hole cut and competing in Friday’s final round.
It’s an all-English affair at the top of the leaderboard as five share the first-round leader honours. Jake Burnage set the early pace and he was later joined by Joe Retford, Olly Huggins, Callum Farr and former Irish Amateur Open winner and second-generation Irishman, John Gough.
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