September 03-06
Galgorm Spa & Golf Resort, Ballymena, Northern Ireland
โฌ200,000
Round 2, Round 3, Round 4
Julien Quesne holds a narrow one-stroke lead following the first round of the Northern Ireland Open Supported by The R&A after posting a four under par round of 66.
The two-time European Tour winner claimed the sole lead with a birdie on the final hole at Galgorm Castle Golf Club to go into the second round one stroke clear of countryman Clement Berardo, Americaโs Tyler Koivisto and English duo Bradley Moore and Alfie Plant.
The Frenchman carded just a single bogey on day one in Ballymena and was pleased with his return to competitive action.
โI have been playing well for two or three weeks and the game is feeling better,โ he said. โI started well with two birdies and after that I just made a couple of putts.
This week's #NIOpen is supported by The R&A as part of their COVID-19 Support Fund, a ยฃ7million package to help golf deal with the impact of the global pandemic.
โ Challenge Tour (@Challenge_Tour) September 3, 2020
We spoke to @BradleyNeil1, @ScottGregory5 & @MikeHoeyNI about The @RandA's importance to golf. pic.twitter.com/b07D3OM0uQ
โIt was really windy today. We only had one hole with rain, so it was okay. The wind made the course quite difficult and Iโm quite happy with my score today.
โItโs good to be back. Iโm playing well so I just want to have the best week I can. Iโll focus on every shot and weโll see where we are at the end.โ
Englandโs Plant, who won the Silver Medal at The 2017 Open Championship, believes avoiding the thick Galgorm Castle rough was key to posting a good opening score.
โIt was a little bit scrappy out there,โ he said. โThe rough is so thick so whenever you miss the fairway youโre scrambling for pars. I made some key putts to keep the momentum going and it was nice to come in with no bogeys.
โIf you feel like youโre hitting your driver well, youโve got to go for it and be further down in the rough. If you do take a three-wood or an iron off the tee and you do miss the fairway then youโre miles back. I think, sometimes, itโs worth the gamble hitting the driver.
โI think as golfers, you always have expectations. We put in so many hours, you expect to shoot 59 every week and step up, but it doesnโt quite work like that.
One of 7⃣ birdies for Bjรถrn Hellgren today #NIOpen pic.twitter.com/4IzAaXPE0y
โ Challenge Tour (@Challenge_Tour) September 3, 2020
โIโve played a few events now on the European Tour and Challenge Tour, so I feel like Iโve got enough experience now. As long as my gameโs in the right place, I feel like I can compete.โ
A group of 11 players share sixth place on two under par, including Scottish trio Craig Ross, Euan Walker and Daniel Young, Swedish duo Bjรถrn Hellgren and Mikael Lundberg, English pair Chris Cannon and Ben Talbot, Denmarkโs Martin Ovesen, USAโs Dodge Kemmer, Iceland's Gudmundur Kristjansson and Italian Enrico Di Nitto, who was the only player in the field to card a blemish-free round.
Pos. |
Player | To Par |
R1 |
1 |
QUESNE, Julien | -4 |
66 |
2 |
KOIVISTO, Tyler | -3 |
67 |
โ |
BERARDO, Clément | -3 |
67 |
โ |
MOORE, Bradley | -3 |
67 |
โ |
PLANT, Alfie | -3 |
67 |
6 |
HELLGREN, Björn | -2 |
68 |
โ |
CANNON, Christopher | -2 |
68 |
โ |
TALBOT, Ben | -2 |
68 |
โ |
KRISTJANSSON, Gudmundur | -2 |
68 |
โ |
LUNDBERG, Mikael | -2 |
68 |
6 |
DI NITTO, Enrico | -2 |
68 |
โ |
OVESEN, Martin | -2 |
68 |
โ |
YOUNG, Daniel | -2 |
68 |
โ |
ROSS, Craig | -2 |
68 |
โ |
WALKER, Euan | -2 |
68 |
โ |
KEMMER, Dodge | -2 |
68 |
17 |
JOHANNESSEN, Kristian Krogh | -1 |
69 |
โ |
KIMSEY, Nathan | -1 |
69 |
โ |
O'ROURKE, Conor | -1 |
69 |
โ |
ALLAN, James | -1 |
69 |
โ |
MIVIS, Christopher | -1 |
69 |
โ |
GRENVILLE-WOOD, Joshua | -1 |
69 |
โ |
TARRIO, Santiago | -1 |
69 |
โ |
DINWIDDIE, Robert | -1 |
69 |
โ |
GALIANO AGUILAR, Mario | -1 |
69 |
17 |
MANLEY, Stuart | -1 |
69 |
27 |
JOHANSSON, Niclas | PAR |
70 |
โ |
NEIL, Bradley | PAR |
70 |
โ |
CASTAGNARA, Giulio | PAR |
70 |
โ |
SLOMAN, Tom | PAR |
70 |
โ |
PALMER, Andrew | PAR |
70 |
โ |
PENGE, Marco | PAR |
70 |
โ |
ARKENAU, Hinrich | PAR |
70 |
โ |
WILLEY, Andrew | PAR |
70 |
โ |
GALBRAITH, JR | PAR |
70 |
โ |
TOWNDROW, Sean | PAR |
70 |
โ |
FLOYDD, Jack | PAR |
70 |
โ |
PETERSSON, Robin | PAR |
70 |
โ |
VAN WEST, Robbie | PAR |
70 |
โ |
GAVINS, Daniel | PAR |
70 |
โ |
FORD, Matt | PAR |
70 |
โ |
LÄNGFORS, Per | PAR |
70 |
43 |
ELVIRA, Manuel | 1 |
71 |
โ |
EVANS, Ryan | 1 |
71 |
โ |
WRISDALE, Jordan | 1 |
71 |
โ |
KEARNEY, Niall | 1 |
71 |
โ |
ROBB, Chris | 1 |
71 |
โ |
ENEFER, Will | 1 |
71 |
โ |
MCKIBBIN, Tom (AM) | 1 |
71 |
โ |
QUINONES, Douglas | 1 |
71 |
43 |
ELLIS, Harry | 1 |
71 |
โ |
WILSON, Andrew | 1 |
71 |
โ |
STUREHED, Henric | 1 |
71 |
โ |
RUSCH, Benjamin | 1 |
71 |
โ |
DUBOIS, Edouard | 1 |
71 |
โ |
RIU, Victor | 1 |
71 |
โ |
AXELSEN, John | 1 |
71 |
โ |
CLEMENTS, Todd | 1 |
71 |
โ |
CAREY, David | 1 |
71 |
โ |
KNAPPE, Alexander | 1 |
71 |
โ |
BORDA, David | 1 |
71 |
โ |
FAHRBRING, Jens | 1 |
71 |
63 |
BOURDY, Grégory | 2 |
72 |
โ |
MACCARIO, Federico | 2 |
72 |
โ |
BULLEN, Michael | 2 |
72 |
โ |
MATUS, Stanislav | 2 |
72 |
โ |
OWEN, Laurie | 2 |
72 |
โ |
SANDBORG, Jesper | 2 |
72 |
โ |
BOOTE, David | 2 |
72 |
โ |
LANDO CASANOVA, Jérôme | 2 |
72 |
โ |
BLOOR, George | 2 |
72 |
โ |
BRAEUNIG, Christian | 2 |
72 |
โ |
DANTORP, Jens | 2 |
72 |
โ |
HIGGO, Garrick | 2 |
72 |
75 |
WAITE, Mitch | 3 |
73 |
โ |
ZEMMER, Aron | 3 |
73 |
โ |
MULLARNEY, Ronan | 3 |
73 |
โ |
FOLLETT-SMITH, Benjamin | 3 |
73 |
โ |
MAGNUS, Haraldur | 3 |
73 |
โ |
KING, Gary | 3 |
73 |
โ |
KOPP, Alexander | 3 |
73 |
โ |
SAINZ, Javier | 3 |
73 |
โ |
FERNANDEZ, Scott | 3 |
73 |
โ |
KRISTENSEN, Nicolai | 3 |
73 |
โ |
LACROIX, Frederic | 3 |
73 |
โ |
SAHLSTROM, Christopher | 3 |
73 |
โ |
GREHAN, Stuart | 3 |
73 |
โ |
HURLEY, Gary | 3 |
73 |
โ |
BJORNSSON, Andri | 3 |
73 |
90 |
NEMECZ, Lukas | 4 |
74 |
โ |
FORSSTRÖM, Simon | 4 |
74 |
โ |
WIEGELE, Martin | 4 |
74 |
โ |
GREGORY, Scott | 4 |
74 |
โ |
ORRIN, Max | 4 |
74 |
โ |
KUNZENBACHER, Julian | 4 |
74 |
โ |
HUTCHINSON, Ben | 4 |
74 |
โ |
LAWLOR, Brendan | 4 |
74 |
โ |
GIRRBACH, Joel | 4 |
74 |
โ |
KNIPES, Curtis | 4 |
74 |
โ |
PURCELL, Conor | 4 |
74 |
101 |
VECCHI FOSSA, Jacopo | 5 |
75 |
โ |
HENRY, Scott | 5 |
75 |
โ |
MANSELL, Richard | 5 |
75 |
104 |
HOEY, Michael | 6 |
76 |
โ |
DAWSON, Robin | 6 |
76 |
โ |
GILL, Bailey | 6 |
76 |
โ |
JOHN, Allen | 6 |
76 |
โ |
WOAN, Harrison | 6 |
76 |
โ |
HILL, Josh (AM) | 6 |
76 |
โ |
MØLLER, Niklas Norgaard | 6 |
76 |
โ |
MCELROY, Dermot | 6 |
76 |
โ |
MCGEE, Ruaidhri | 6 |
76 |
113 |
MORY, Felix | 7 |
77 |
โ |
HARMER, Ryan | 7 |
77 |
115 |
DE SOUSA, Raphaël | 8 |
78 |
โ |
KÖLBING, Jonas | 8 |
78 |
โ |
EGGENBERGER, Mathias | 8 |
78 |
โ |
DU PLESSIS, Hennie | 8 |
78 |
โ |
HARRISON, Jack | 8 |
78 |
120 |
MCBRIDE, Paul | 9 |
79 |
โ |
FERREIRA, Stephen | 9 |
79 |
122 |
GRASSOTTI, Massimo | 10 |
80 |
โ |
RUSH, Michael | 10 |
80 |
โ |
LIPPARELLI, Edoardo Raffaele | 10 |
80 |
โ |
HASSAN, Jacob | 10 |
80 |
126 |
DAUX, Franck | 11 |
81 |
127 |
OCHOA, Juan | 12 |
82 |
W/D |
THOMSON, Jonathan | - |
78 |
RETD |
DECOTTIGNIES-LAFON, Mathieu | - |
- |