A soft course and calm conditions led to low scores on day 1 of the European Amateur Championship in France.
66 of the 144 players in the field were able to break par at Golf du Médoc Resort in Wednesday’s first round.
Adrien Dumont De Chassart hit the first tee shot of the tournament and didn’t take long to establish himself at the top of the leaderboard. Five birdies, an eagle, and no dropped shots led to a round of 64 (-7) for the Belgian player.
Three other players were able to shoot the same score in the morning wave of tee times. Pietro Bovari (ITA), Christoffer Bring (DEN), and Joel Moscatel all also finished with rounds of 64 to find themselves in a tie for second place.
The top ranked amateur player in the field, Ludvig Aberg, put himself in contention. The Swede missed just one green in regulation on his way to a round of 65 (-6).
Denmark’s Alexander Frances was the star of the day. Despite having to endure heavy rain after teeing off in the afternoon wave of tee times, the Dane carded eight birdies and an eagle on his way to a round of 63 (-8).
“It was a lot of fun out there” said Frances after his round. “In the afternoon flight it started raining a lot. I played one hole, got onto number two and we just got drenched for five holes. I just tried to stay in it, put the rain gear on and grind it out.”
It was David Rauch that earned the shot of the day however. The German player carded an albatross on the opening hole of his tournament, the par-five 10th on the way to a round of four-under-par.
The full leaderboard, including tee times and livescoring can be viewed on the European Amateur Championship Event Page.