Joshua Grenville-Wood had the perfect start to the Abu Dhabi Challenge at Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting and Golf Club by firing six birdies over seven holes on route to a front nine of 29, which led to him being in a tie for fifth spot after the opening round on the Challenge Tour.

The UAE National shares fifth place alongside Danes Jonathan Gøth-Rasmussen and Hamish Brown, Englishmen Sam Hutsby and David Horsey, German Nicolai Von Dellingshausen, South African Justin Walters, and Switzerland’s Jeremy Freiburghaus.

Grenville-Wood, who has just turned 26, has already carded a second-place finish this season so far on the Challenge Tour’s Road To Mallorca in the Delhi Challenge. Form which is backed up by his two top-ten finishes in his past five starts on the DP World Tour as he looks to go in search for his maiden Challenge Tour victory.

There are a record amount of ten other UAE Nationals playing in the field this week alongside Joshua, in this first of a two-week swing of Challenge Tour events in the emirate. Opportunities not possible without the 10-year agreement between the DP World Tour, Challenge Tour and the Emirates Golf Federation in developing the game in the region.

Bradley Bawden, John Parry, Nicolai Kristensen and Sebastian Friedrichsen all posted seven under par rounds of 63 to share the one-shot lead heading into day two in Al Ain.

Round two will get underway at 6:30am local time tomorrow, with Bawden set to tee it up at 8:20am alongside Norwegian Andreas Halvorsen and Irishman Ronan Mullarney, while Kristensen heads out at 1:10pm alongside Scotland’s Euan Walker and the Ireland’s Gary Hurley.

Main Image: Harry Grimshaw