Huizing flirts with 59, Kearney lurking

Daan Huizing. ©Getty ImagesNiall Kearney fired a bogey free 67 as Holland’s Daan Huizing flirted with a 59 before settling for an 11 under 61 on the opening day of Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge in France.

In just his sixth start on the Challenge Tour, the Dutchman was ten under par through 15 holes at Golf PGA France du Vaudreuil, as he attempted to become only the second man in Challenge Tour history to shoot 59 after Adrien Mork pulled it off en route to the Tikida Hotels Agadir Moroccan Classic title in 2006.

A birdie at the seventh, his 16th, was the ideal start to the final trio of holes for Huizing as he neared history, but a couple of pars to finish still saw him sign for the lowest round of the season so far, a new course record, and a two stroke advantage over Englishman Jason Barnes.

“Of course I knew I was going low,” admitted the Dutchman. “That 59 was in my mind a little bit, but I tried to block it out as I had a similar situation earlier in the year, where I was going really low after 13 holes and then started thinking about shooting 59. That’s when you know you are not focused on the task anymore, so I tried to keep focused on one shot at a time, what I needed to do on the course, and it almost worked out.”

Kearney is tied for 18th on five under par with Balyliffin’s Brendan McCarroll a shot futher back after carding six birdies in a four under 68

Scores after round  1:

61 D Huizing (Ned),

63 J Barnes (Eng),

64 A Johnston (Eng), D Frittelli (RSA), F Calmels  (Fra), E Espana (Fra), L Weber (Fra),

65 J Lima  (Por), S Kim (Kor), R Marguery (Fra),

66 K Borsheim  (Nor), R Quiros  (Esp), A Velasco (Esp), D Stewart (Sco), J Fahrbring (Swe), S Garcia Rodriguez (Esp), B Hebert  (Fra),

67 N Kearney (Irl), P Maddy (Eng), C Kim (USA), C Russo (Fra), H Joannes  (Bel),

68 P Peracino (Fra), J McLeary  (Sco), O Whiteley (Eng), W Besseling  (Ned), P Dwyer (Eng), J Carlsson (Swe), A Otaegui  (Esp), L Kennedy  (Eng), B An (Kor), M Jonzon (Swe), L Corfield  (Eng), B McCarroll  (Irl),

69 D Ulrich (Sui), D Nouailhac (Fra), L Goddard  (Eng), A Domingo (Esp), M Zions (Aus), R Steiner (Aut), A Bernadet  (Fra), B Chapellan (Fra), J Legarrea (Esp), S Fallon (Eng), T Murray (Eng), T Fournier  (Fra), W Booth  (Sco), S Hutsby  (Eng), M Bey (Fra), L Canter (Eng), R Russell (Sco), B Paolini (USA), B Evans  (Eng), A Mörk (Fra), N Lemke (Swe), J Heath  (Eng),

70 S Brown (Eng), J Dantorp (Swe), G Stal  (Fra), P Archer (Eng), J Abbott (Eng), D Salisbury (Eng), M Rominger  (Sui), J Gressier (Fra), G Houston (Wal), S Piaget  (Mon), J Remesy (Fra), T Haylock  (Eng), J Howarth (Eng), C Sordet (am) (Fra),

71 M Quiros (Esp), G Cambis  (Fra), J Jeong (Kor), D Perrier (Fra), J Gibb (Eng), E Dubois (Fra), G Murray  (Sco), J Pastor Lopez (Esp), A Gee  (Eng), T Linard (Fra), M Haines  (Eng), M Ford (Eng), A Schwartz (Fra), X Poncelet  (Fra), A Perrino  (Ita), S Tiley (Eng), M Brier (Aut), M Haastrup  (Den),

72 J Timmis (Eng), K Ferrie (Eng), J Lopez Lazaro (Fra), R Dinwiddie  (Eng), J Hepworth (Eng), A Rota (Ita), A Hortal  (Esp), J Belot (Fra), N Meitinger  (Ger), J Garcia Pinto (Esp), F Bergamaschi (Ita), J Mikkelsen (Nor), N Peyrichou (Fra), T Nørret (Den), S Gros (Fra), R Schneider (Fra), S Walker (Eng), J Ruth  (Eng), A Saddier (Fra), D Im (USA),

73 J Guerrier  (Fra), J Moul  (Eng), D Vancsik (Arg), J Foret (Fra), C Hanson (Eng), D Kemmer (USA), B Nicolay  (Fra), K Le Sager  (Fra), S Manley (Wal), R Bechu (Fra), N Quintarelli (Ita), F Marty (Fra), C Aguilar  (Esp), P Edberg (Swe), D Geminiani (Ita),

74 T Hatton (Eng), S Arnold  (Aus), N Tacher (Fra), P Figueiredo  (Por), B Ritthammer (Ger),

75 N Joakimides (Fra), V Riu  (Fra), R Berrube (Fra), F Colombo (Ita), O Rozner  (Fra), O Wilson (Eng), D Palm (Swe), J Watts (Eng), D Griffiths  (Eng), O Farr (Wal), P Relecom  (Bel), C Brazillier  (Fra), C Ford (Eng), F Abadie (Fra), T Beaucousin (am) (Fra), T Elissalde (am) (Fra),

76 L Saltman (Sco), J Verselin (Fra), F Delamontagne  (Fra), S Whiffin (Eng), R Davies (Wal), A McArthur  (Sco),

77 L Bjerregaard  (Den), J Grillon  (Fra), N Bertasio (Ita), P Barjon (am) (Fra),

80 O Nier (Fra), A Bihan (Fra),