Regular contenders and ‘golf in DUBAi’ ambassadors Faycal Serghini and Joshua White shot matching rounds of five-under 67s to set the pace alongside Scotland’s Gary King after the opening round of the Ascorp Abu Dhabi Golf Citizen Open.
At Saadiyat Beach Golf Club, Morocco’s Serghini, a three-time runner-up on the tour, made six birdies, including three in a row from the 13th, against a lone bogey, while England’s White mixed seven birdies with two bogeys.
King, who was seven-under par after the 15th and looked all set to snatch the lead, unfortunately double bogeyed the 18th to fall back to five-under par.
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The English duo of Jake Shepherd and Tom Boys, along with Australian Paul Bucan, were tied fourth one shot behind the leaders.
Scotland’s Daniel Kay and Thriston Arthur Lawrence of South African shared the seventh place on 69, with eight players, including three time MENA Tour winner Lee Corfield, tied for the ninth place on two-under par 70.
The conditions were extremely demanding, with the heat and humidity adding to the challenges thrown up by the Gary Player-designed golf course. As many as 23 players broke par, but as Serghini pointed out, it was a constant battle.
“I stayed patient out there and that was the key,” said Serghini. “I may not have struck the ball as sweetly as I would have liked to, but putted very well.
“I was off to a good start, going two-under after the first three holes and managed to keep the momentum rolling all the way through. That three successive birdies certainly made my day,” said the experienced Moroccan, who celebrated his 39th birthday last week.
The 2014 MENA champion, White, who finished third at the
One of our faithful members giving a gracious bow on hole 15 this morning. #Saadiyat #PlayTroon #Golf #InAbuDhabi pic.twitter.com/gTjE3p9zrX
— Saadiyat Beach GC (@SaadiyatBeach) August 31, 2015
Dubai Creek Open last week, said: “I am playing good golf at the moment and it reflected on my scores. The goal is the same: to get into contention week in and week out.
“I felt pretty relaxed and every part of my game fell into place, which was quite pleasing,” said the 23-year-old, whose opening round was highlighted by three consecutive birdies from the 15th.
England’s Todd Clements led the amateur division with a two-under par 70, two ahead of his compatriot James Allan and Rayhan Thomas.
In the MENA Division, Mehdi Saissi carded an even-par 72 to move to second place behind Serghini as Younes El Hassani, Amine Joudar and Ahmed Marjane each settled for rounds of 74.
Defending champion Luke Joy of England opened with a two-over 74 while Miles Tunnicliff, a two-time winner on the European Tour, shot a 76 and Zane Scotland, the most prolific winner on the MENA Golf Tour with nine wins, returned a 75.
