Jérôme Lando Casanova took advantage of the soft greens to make seven birdies and hold a one-shot lead of the Vierumӓki Finnish Challenge after the first round.
After play was delayed by an hour due to heavy rain overnight, the Frenchman fired a bogey-free round of 65 to reach seven under par, one shot ahead of Scott Henry, Benjamin Poke and Marcel Schneider.
The 31 year old has struggled to find his best form this season, with a best finish a tie for tenth in the Montecchia Open by Lyoness, so he was delighted with the start he made at Vierumӓki Resort.
“It was one of those days where everything works,” he said. “My plan was ready this morning so I just tried to keep to it on every hole and I hit a lot of fairways, a lot of greens, and I made some putts – it was one of those days when it looked easy and I just want to enjoy it.
“My target was to hit as many fairways as possible and I played nicely with the driver, which gave me the confidence to go for the flags. It rained all night so the greens were soft, so we could go straight at the pins.
“The rain did make me think that maybe I could be a bit more aggressive. I checked on the first three holes to see how the ball was responding on the green and then thought, ‘okay, I can go for the pins today.’
“I’m not where I want to be over the whole season, but I’m happy with my game. I’ve been inconsistent with my putting this year so I worked a lot on that, and today everything was very good.
“This year the standard and the scoring on the Challenge Tour is so great, so if you don’t have a good week with the putter you will struggle. The only week I was putting great was in Italy and I finished in the top ten, so this week I hope the putter is good for all four rounds.”
Many of Casanova’s compatriots have been the stars of this Challenge Tour season, with Clément Sordet, Damien Perrier, Adrien Saddier and Joël Stalter all winners this year.
Add to that the form of Road to Oman Number Two Romain Langasque – who opened with a five under par 67 in Finland – and Number Eight Matthieu Pavon and 2016 starts to look very red, white and blue.
Casanova, however, insists that there is little competition between the French players, and that this recent run of success is in keeping with a succession of good seasons for golf in his home country.
“I don’t think of how my French friends are doing when I’m on the course,” he said. “Obviously between the rounds you see them, and maybe that can do something to motivate you a little bit, but it’s not a rivalry.
“I also think it’s not just this year, there have been a lot of good years from the French players lately – a lot of good players on the European Tour, winning tournaments, and a lot of players making the top 15 on the Challenge Tour every year.
“I don’t see this year as a particularly notable year for the French, but we are playing good and we are getting better, younger players are getting better, so it’s very good for golf in France.”
Scotland’s Henry, whose tie for sixth in last week’s Swedish Challenge hosted by Robert Karlsson was his best result of the year, Poke of Denmark and German Schneider – whose runner-up finish in last year’s Finnish event remains a career best – lead the chasing pack after all carding rounds of 66, with a host of players one shot further back.
As well as Langasque, Finland’s own Peter Erofejeff is in a tie for fifth on five under par, along with Swedish trio Jens Dantorp, Anton Karlsson and Niklas Lemke, South Africa’s Michael G Palmer Irishman Kevin Phelan, Spaniards Juan Sarasti and Alvaro Velasco, and Austria’s Martin Wiegele.
Scores after round 1:
65 J Lando Casanova (Fra) ,
66 S Henry (Sco) , B Poke (Den) , M Schneider (Ger) ,
67 M Wiegele (Aut) , P Erofejeff (Fin) , N Lemke (Swe) , R Langasque (Fra) , A Velasco (Esp) , A Karlsson (Swe) , J Sarasti (Esp) , K Phelan (Irl) , M Palmer (RSA) , J Dantorp (Swe) ,
68 T Ferrer (Esp) , W Harrold (Eng) , S Walker (Eng) , C Bouniol (Fra) , D Van Driel (Ned) , S Hutsby (Eng) ,
69 D Løkke (Den) , T Gornik (Slo) , D Lloyd (RSA) , D Perrier (Fra) , P Mejow (Ger) , M Orrin (Eng) , T Pulkkanen (Fin) , C Ford (Eng) , C Koerbler (Aut) , P Angles (Esp) , J Guerrier (Fra) , S Fernandez (Esp) , J Dean (Eng) , C Feldborg Nielsen (Swe) , J Robinson (Eng) , J Allan (Eng) , A Hortal (Esp) , K Koivu (am) (Fin) ,
70 K Johannessen (Nor) , P Widegren (Swe) , J Wrisdale (Eng) , R Kind (Ned) , O Stark (Swe) , R Saxton (Ned) , J Barnes (Eng) , S Brown (Eng) , B Neil (Sco) , J Granberg (Fin) , T Hogarty (RSA) , R Santos (Por) , A Pavan (Ita) , P Shields (Sco) , E Dubois (Fra) , A Björk (Swe) , M Delpodio (Ita) , K Samooja (Fin) , B Hellgren (Swe) , S Kim (USA) , H Joannes (Bel) , M Nixon (Eng) , E Blom (Swe) , E Myllymaki (Fin) ,
71 P Maddy (Eng) , D Gaunt (Aus) , D Huizing (Ned) , M Ortolani (Ita) , B Paolini (USA) , J Lara (Esp) , J Makitalo (Fin) , G Porteous (Eng) , T Detry (Bel) , T Tree (Eng) , M Kinhult (Swe) , G Piris Mateu (Esp) , R Evans (Eng) , J Kahlos (am) (Fin) ,
72 R Enoch (Wal) , R Roussel (Fra) , B Casey (Irl) , A Ahokas (Fin) , C De Stefani (Ita) , C Koepka (USA) , M Decottignies-Lafon (Fra) , K Kulokorpi (Fin) , S Forsstrom (Swe) , J Garcia Pinto (Esp) , T Bakker (Fin) , M Armitage (Eng) , D Coupland (Eng) , O Farr (Wal) , J Kaske (Fin) , D Frittelli (RSA) , K Eriksson (Swe) , J Perttila (Fin) , O Lindell (Fin) , P Relecom (Bel) , T Murray (Eng) , B Hafthorsson (Isl) , S Hodgson (Eng) , K Hesbois (Bel) , A Myllymaki (am) (Fin) ,
73 M Salminen (Fin) , R McGee (Irl) , G Watremez (Bel) , D Law (Sco) , C Gloet (Den) , J Doherty (Sco) , L Ruuska (Fin) , N Geyger (Chi) , T Salminen (Fin) , J Glennemo (Swe) , G Axell (Swe) , M Tullo (Chi) , B Parker (Eng) , P Puhakka (Fin) , P Howard (Eng) ,
74 J Ruponen (Fin) , F Bergamaschi (Ita) , M Ovesen (Den) , C Bezuidenhout (RSA) , T Remkes (Ned) , M Veijalainen (Fin) , S Fallon (Eng) , J Sjöholm (Swe) , J Rask (Swe) , J Loughrey (Eng) , A Chesters (Eng) , T Shadbolt (Eng) , D Jennevret (Swe) , P Whiteford (Sco) , M Piltz (Fin) , M Lehtovuori (am) (Fin) ,
75 D Papadatos (Aus) , O Bergqvist (Swe) , E Goya (Arg) , M Keskari (Ger) , C Russo (Fra) , F Calmels (Fra) , S Piaget (Mon) , N Quintarelli (Ita) , R Kellett (Sco) , F Becker (Ger) , E Cuartero Blanco (Esp) ,
76 J Cafourek (Cze) , C Sutherland (Sco) ,
77 B Rusch (Sui) , J Senior (Eng) , T Putkonen (Fin) ,
78 H Yamac (Tur) , J Mullen (Eng) , D Suchan (Cze) , N Hellberg (Fin) , T Nukari (am) (Fin) ,
79 D Berna Manzanares (Esp) ,
80 M Hocaoglu (Tur) ,
83 J Ilkka (am) (Fin)
