Jacques Blaauw opened his campaign in the Challenge Tour’s Open de Bretagne at Golf Bluegreen de Pléneuf Val André in Pleneuf, France on Thursday with a six-under-par 64 to hold a share of second after the first round.
Blaauw made seven birdies and a bogey as he shared second with Julien Brun of France and Iceland’s Haraldur Magnus. The trio was one shot off the lead held by Timor Baltl of Austria, and Hennie Du Plessis shared fifth with five other players a further shot back on five-under-par.
Blaauw started with a bang, making birdie on the first hole, and he picked up another shot on the sixth, before making his only drop of the day on the par-four ninth. But he really got things going on the back nine, with birdies on 10 and 11, before he picked up another shot with a birdie on 14. He made two birdies in a row again on 16 and 17, before closing his day’s work with a par on 18.
Du Plessis started his round on the 10th, and birdies on 11 and 14 got him off to a good start. He dropped a shot on the par-four 15th, but he kept things together well with a birdie on 18 ahead of the turn. He made gains on two, three and seven after the turn in the first round of his Challenge Tour campaign in Europe.
Oliver Bekker is the other South African in the field, and he started with a level-par 70 with three birdies and three bogeys.
