Route 66 for McGee at Q-School

Ruaidhri McGee. Picture courtesy www.europrotour,comRosapenna’s Ruaidhiri McGee got his European Tour card bid off to a sizzling start with an immaculate six under 66 in the First Qualifying Stage at Wychwood Park near Crewe.

The Ulsterman, who has had three top-10s in his last four starts on the Europro Tour. went out in two under par but then picked four shots in his first six holes the homeward journey over Wychwood Park’s front nine to lead the 93-man field by three shots from England’s William Harrold. Wychwood scores

Former Walker Cup player Paul Cutler from Portstewart also made a positive start with a one under par 71 leaving him tied for seventh with 22nd place and ties progressing to Stage Two, to be played in November.

Colm Moriarty shares 12th spot thanks to a level par 72 with Alan Dunbar joint 19th on one over after a 73.

However, it was a tough day for Ballymena amateur Dermot McElroy, who dropped four shots in his last six holes to sign for a three over 75 and joint 34th.

Fellow amateur Matt McAlpin posted a four over 76 to lie joint 46th with David Jones tied 57th after a five over 77.

At Fleesensee Golf and Country Club in northern Germany, Dubliner Niall Kearney had six birdies in a three under par 69 to share 17th place, three shots behind German amateur Sebastian Schwind, who shot a 66 to lead the 100-strong field by one stroke. Fleesensee scores

Cian McNamara’s level par 72 left him tied for 40th with rookie professional Simon Ward back in 60th after a two over 74.

It is a particularly congested leaderboard in Germany with 22 players within three strokes of the lead, and those in 24th place and ties set to qualify from the 101 man field.

Scores after round one from Wychwood Park:

66 Ruaidhri McGee (Irl) ,

69 W Harrold (Eng)

70 M Haines (Eng) , N Fenwick (Sco) , D Lloyd (RSA) , T Lee (USA) ,

71 M Cort (Eng) , C Hinton (Eng) , P Cutler (Nir) , W Roebuck (Eng) , T Whitehouse (Eng)

72 L Ferreira (RSA) , P Nessling (Eng) , A Evans (Eng) , A Björk (Swe) , M Swales (Eng) , Colm Moriarty (Irl) , S Fallon (Eng) ,

73 J Marin (Esp) , L Renolds (Can) , J Shufflebotham (Wal) , R Prophet (Eng) , M Edge (Eng) , T Smith (USA) , Alan Dunbar (Nir) , J Fly (USA) , B Hemstock (Eng) , J Smith (am) (Eng) ,

<Top 22 and ties above progress to Second Stage>

74 R Harris (Eng) , J Carlson (Swe) , O Browne (USA) , P Bradshaw (Eng) , D Walker (Eng) ,

75 D Gwilliam (Eng) , G Cunningham (USA) , W Johnson (Eng) , J Frazer (Wal) , L Bedford (USA) , A Andrews (Eng) , A Chauhan (Eng) , S Forgan (Eng) , D Aldridge (Eng) , J Titlow (am) (Eng) , Dermot McElroy (am) (Nir) , K Flack (am) (USA) ,

76 J San Felix (Esp) , A Mason (Eng) , S Hak (Hkg) , J Swallow (Eng) , S Robertshawe (Eng) , J Mancebo (Esp) , N Taylor (Eng) , E Saltman (Sco) , B Newman (USA) , M Webb (Eng) , Matt McAlpin (am) (Nir)

77 A Kasprzak (Den) , C Greyling (RSA) , David Jones (Nir) , R Fisher (USA) , R Carter (USA) , A Wilkin (Nzl) , L Rooke (Wal) , H Dobson (Eng) , M Moore (Eng) , S Hodgson (Eng) , M Frost (Eng) , D Balin (USA)

78 M Stewart (Sco) , J Robinson (Eng) , S Merry (Tri) , E Forbes (Eng) , C Durnian (Eng) , J Sims (Eng) ,

79 C Osborne (Nzl) , P Kaensche (Nor) , R I’Anson (Eng) , R Booth (Eng) , C Whatham (Eng) ,

80 D Osbaldeston (Eng) ,

81 O Sigurdsson (Isl) , A Weir (Sco) , S Towndrow (am) (Eng) ,

82 A Gronkvist (Swe) , S Watts (Eng) , D Littlefield (USA) , M Saunders (am) (Eng) ,

83 W Bailey (Eng) , T Mordt (RSA) , M Collins (Eng) , J White (Eng) ,

84 J Ferraby (Eng) ,

86 F Macleod (am) (Eng) ,

** A Rai (Eng) , J Michaels (Eng) ,

Scores after round one from Golf & Country Club Fleesensee

66 S Schwind (am) (Ger) ,

67 N Nissen (Den) , G Adell (Swe) , P Fendt (Aut) , J Hahn (USA) , F Osther (Ned) , G Axell (Swe) , S Heisele (Ger) ,

68 K Le Sager (Fra) , B Hafthorsson (Isl) , B Hellgren (Swe) , N Bruzelius (Swe) , Y Bludau (Ger) , P Reed (Eng) , M Soegaard (am) (Den) , M Keskari (am) (Ger) ,

69 A Mason (USA) , A Johansson (Swe) , K Thompson (USA) , D Wuensche (Ger) , Niall Kearney (Irl) , P Mejow (Ger) ,

70 S Wolters (Ger) , M Johansson (Swe) , J Wilson (Eng) , R Armour (USA) , F Jahn (Ger) , T Cruz (Por) , N Norman (Den) , A Eckhardt (am) (Fin) , R Lloyd (am) (Ger) ,

<24th and ties above progress to Second Stage>

71 A Knappe (Ger) , D Wright (Eng) , M Salminen (Fin) , A Rosswag (Ger) , R Edginton (Eng) , M Wendel (Swe) , T Gissurarson (Isl) , Z Lombard (am) (RSA) ,

72 N Henriques (Por) , Cian McNamara (Irl) , H Hilford Brander (Swe) , A Schwartz (Fra) , S Hale (USA) , C Hurter (Ger) , F Becker (Ger) , T Bakker (am) (Fin) ,

73 C Bouniol (Fra) , F Keenan (Eng) , J Wahlqvist (Swe) , B Miarka (Ger) , S Forsstrom (Swe) , B Staben (Ger) , V Hielte (Swe) , S Gross Jr (Ger) , H Sayin (Tur) , M Van Dijk (Ned) , C Dammert (am) (Ger) , A Siemers (am) (Ger) ,

74 C Aronsen (Nor) , S Spallone (USA) , S Piaget (Mon) , J Lauridsen (Den) , Simon Ward (Nir) , N Chaudhuri (Eng) , V Almstrom (Swe) , T Petersson (Swe) , M Roehrig (am) (Ger) ,

75 S Cairns (Ger) , J Colomo (Esp) , P O’Neill (Den) , K Kemmler (Ger) , F Kolberg (am) (Tur) , M Cabrera - Bello (am) (Esp) ,

76 X Ruiz Fonhof (Ned) , S Gundorph (Den) , R Jonasson (Swe) , A Kirstein (Ger) , M Laier (Ger) , S Sorg (am) (Sui) ,

77 A Giuliani (USA) , T Sheppard (USA) , M Suursalu (Est) , P Mary (am) (Fra) ,

78 R Askstrand (Swe) , T Marshall (Nzl) , N Ladefoged (Den) , D Alonso (Esp) , P Rasmussen (am) (Den) , J Wang (am) (Eng) , H Beins (am) (Ger) ,

79 S Schmidt (Ger) , K Liu (Hkg) , N Meitinger (Ger) , J Hearn (Eng) ,

80 C Vivolo (USA) , B Barrack (Can) , T Findeisen (Nor) ,

81 M Pickel (Ger) ,

82 C Kaiser (Ger) ,

** C Kaya (Tur) ,