Luke Joy shrugged off early season blues, firing a bogey-free five-under 66 to seize the early momentum going into the second round of the MENA Tour’s Palmeraie Country Club Casablanca Open on Tuesday.
The talented Englishman picked up four birdies in his last five holes after making the turn at one-under to go two clear of his compatriots Lee Corfield and Jordan Loft and Sweden’s Henric Sturehed on a day when 20 players broke par.
Spain’s Carlos Balmaseda and England’s Joshua White, the winner of the MENA Tour’s Order of Merit title in 2014, were tied for fifth, a further shot adrift, in a nine-man group which also included Englishman Benjamin David, who made his professional debut on Tuesday.
Luke Joy shows the way on day one of the 2017 season-opening MENA Tour event in Casablanca
“It was a solid day from tee to green. It’s a fairly new course, but actually it’s quite good and fair. The greens are just fantastic and they rolled very well. Had great fun out there.
Also, the weather was quite good,” said Joy, a two-time winner on the tour.
About his playing partner Craig Kieswetter, the former England cricketer who returned a 75, he said he thoroughly enjoyed his company. “He is always in good spirits. Now that he has earned his (MENA Tour) card for this season, I hope he will be a regular on the tour.”
Corfield, a four-time winner on the tour, had a mixed performance, making eight birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey in his opening 68 while Sturehed almost kept it clean, offsetting a bogey on the seventh with four birdies in his last 11 holes.
“It was kind of an up-and- down round. Made lots of birdies and bogeys. I may have left some shots out there, but can’t complain after opening with a 68,” said Corfield.
“There are plenty of scoring opportunities out there if you can drive the ball well off the tee and avoid bunkers. The greens are just excellent,” he said.
Netherland’s Pierre Junior Verlaar carded a 72 to lead the amateur division, one shot ahead of Morocco’s Ayoub Saidi and two off Amine El Kharraz, also of Morocco.
Home players also made their presence felt in the MENA Division for the Shaikh Maktoum Golf Foundation Award with Mustapha El Maouas hitting the front after signing for one-under 70 as Younes El Hassani and Faycal Serghini shared second on level par.
Among the notables, England’s Zane Scotland, a 10-time winner on the MENA Tour, returned a 74 while Danny Poulter, the elder brother of European Ryder Cup hero Ian, shot a 72 and India’s Feroz Singh Garewal, who graduated from the MENA Tour’s Qualifying School last week, carded a level-par 71.
The 2016 MENA Tour champion Craig Hinton left himself with plenty of work to do after opening with an eight-over 79 that left him in a tie for 78 th place. The Englishman dropped all the shots in his first 10 holes, including a triple-bogey on the par-3, seventh.
