October 04-06
Forest of Arden Hotel & Country Club, Coventry, England
โฌ200,000
Round 2, Round 3
Tournament host Peter Baker produced a stunning five under par back nine to grasp the first round lead in the Farmfoods European Senior Masters at Forest of Arden Hotel and Country Club.
The Englishman posted an opening six under par 66 to lead by one shot ahead of American Qualifying School graduate Dan Olsen, who carded a solitary bogey in his otherwise flawless five under par round of 67.
Baker, now in his third year of hosting the tournament, admits helping to run a successful event is the main goal of the week, with playing good golf coming as an added bonus.
โI enjoy doing the hosting duties, itโs great to support the event really,โ he said. โWe played with Eric Herd today, the Farmfoods guy, and he really enjoyed it.
📽️ Take a look at the best bits from day one of the #ESMasters pic.twitter.com/SZvyVS0HUd
โ Staysure Tour (@StaysureTour) October 4, 2019
โThatโs the main thing really; get the event going, have a good event and itโs a bonus if you play well.
โIt has been a good day today, itโs been quite warm as well. Thereโs not been much wind at all, so it has been a good scoring day. The course is in great condition so if things go right for you, itโs good to have a good round and get off to a good start.โ
The 51-year-old played alongside friend and former World Number One Ian Woosnam in todayโs opening round and after getting off to a slow start, his round burst into life after making the turn.
โItโs always good playing with Woosie,โ he said. โWe go back a long way and the crowds have been brilliant today. I had a lot of support so overall, itโs been a very good day.
โRight from the word go, I hit a great second shot into the first hole to about three feet. That got me off to a great start, but I played a little bit in and out on the front nine.
โThen on the back nine, I made a great birdie on ten, three putted on 11 but from then on, I never missed a shot. Iโm delighted. It was great to finish with an eagle on 17 and then a nice par on the last. It was all really good. The back nine was really strong.โ
Olsen, playing in the first group of the day, carded two birdies during his front nine and picked up three further shots on the back nine to sit one stroke off the lead ahead of round two, while a group of five players are a shot further back on four under par.
Among those in a tie for third place is Austriaโs Markus Brier, Welshman Stephen Dodd, Argentine Mauricio Molina, Swedenโs Jarmo Sandelin and Englishman David Shacklady, who has two wins in his last three Staysure Tour events and will become the first man to win thrice in a season since Colin Montgomerie in 2015, should he triumph this week.
The second round will begin at 9.30am local time on Saturday October 5, with leader Baker teeing off alongside Woosnam at 9.40am from the tenth tee.
66 P Baker (Eng) ,
67 D Olsen (USA) ,
68 D Shacklady (Eng) , M Brier (Aut) , J Sandelin (Swe) , S Dodd (Wal) , M Molina (Arg) ,
69 T Levet (Fra) , J Remesy (Fra) , P Price (Wal) , P Lawrie (Sco) , P Broadhurst (Eng) , P Eales (Eng) , R Gomez (Arg) ,
70 J Carriles (Esp) , G Evans (Eng) , S Tinning (Den) , I Woosnam (Wal) , P Fowler (Aus) , M Farry (Fra) , C Williams (RSA) ,
71 J Kingston (RSA) , M Mackenzie (Eng) , T Thelen (USA) , G Marks (Eng)
72 J Lomas (Eng) , C Suneson (Esp) , A Bossert (Sui) , G Wolstenholme (Eng) , S Richardson (Eng) ,
73 J Quiros (Esp) , S Brown (Eng) ,
74 S Luna (Esp) , A Oldcorn (Sco) , J Haeggman (Swe) ,
75 G Emerson (Eng) , P Wesselingh (Eng) , P Walton (Irl) , M Atlevi (Swe) , D Gilford (Eng) , P Streeter (Eng) , J Coceres (Arg) , M Mouland (Wal) , M Martin (Esp) , C Dennis (USA) ,
76 P Golding (Eng) , S Little (Eng) , P Wilson (Eng) , D Smyth (Irl) ,
78 M Reynard (Eng) , N Job (Eng) ,
79 A Sherborne (Eng) ,
82 C Rocca (Ita) ,
83 N Sweet (Eng)