After the first day of action at Nailcote Hall, European Senior Tour star Barry Lane shot to the top of the leaderboard after a stunning round of -6. The five-time European Tour winner, who was making his debut at the Championship, scored an incredible eight birdies, including four back-to-back from the 13th hole.
"I've never played the course before, only played nine holes last night and thought to myself 'this is going to be tricky'", said Lane, “I'm really pleased with my round today. The course was certainly not forgiving and you can easily drop shots if you're not accurate. I've not played for two weeks and I wasn't expecting to play so well. My main aim for tomorrow will be to keep playing steady, hitting the middle of the green at every attempt and trying to replicate what I did today.
“This is a great event – I couldn't believe the crowds today, it really surprised me. I was playing with Tony Jacklin, which was a fantastic honour and I really did have great fun.”
1999 Open Champion Paul Lawrie OBE, who shot the course record of 46 last year, showed why he is known as 'chippy' with his immaculate short game to finish on -3 and put himself well in contention.
Earlier in the day, two former British Par 3 Champions – Peter Baker and Andrew Sherborne – took the lead with scores of -1 but they were surpassed by Lane, who was in inspired form. 2014 Ladies European Tour Order of Merit winner Charley Hull drew huge crowds who saw her put in an excellent performance to finish on -1.
Leading the pack in the Norma C Herd Silver Salver for the top amateur is Ozkan Baykal, who finished with an impressive score of -2. The current leader in the Super Seniors – the prize for over 60s – is currently being led by all time record holder of most European Senior Tour titles; Carl Mason. Amateur golfer Craig Burgoyne hit a hole-in-one on the 133-yard third hole, winning a stay, play and learn experience at Magnolia Park Golf & Country Club and a bottle of champagne from Charles Mitchell Wines.
Nailcote Hall was bathed in sunshine all day and huge crowds flocked to watch all the action unfold. Tomorrow will see the conclusion of the professional Championship and the presentation of the £25,000 first prize. The Championship, which is hosted by Tony Jacklin CBE and organised by Champions (UK) plc, will conclude on Friday with a final day of Celeb-Am action.
The championship, which is hosted by Tony Jacklin CBE and organised by Champions (UK) plc, will conclude on Friday with a final day of Celeb-Am action.
Please see link for official scoring- http://uk.vpar.com/live/bp3proam2015/r1/leaderboards/1-4-9032
