AR
Varanyu Rattanaphiboonkij has put himself in pole position for a third Asian Development Tour title after the opening round of the inaugural Morocco Rising Stars Marrakech, the first of the two Moroccan events being played at the Samanah Golf Club.
The 28-year-old Thai player fired a bogey-free round of nine-under par 63 on Thursday, matching the course record at the Jack Nicklaus-designed Samanah Golf Club.
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Despite going low, Varanyu only leads by one shot from Filipino star Aidric Chan, who made four birdies on both nines of the golf course to sit just one back at eight-under par.
The English duo of Matt Killen and Finlay Mason are in a tie for third at six-under with Malaysia’s Shahriffuddin Ariffin.
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Morocco’s Ayoub Lguirati, who finished tied fourth at last year’s Toyota Tour Championship, was best-placed Arab golfer in the field. Without dropping any shots, the 31-year-old finished on five-under 67, tied sixth with six other players.
“Very happy with my round today. Never missed anything. I played well all the way until I finished. I just tried to keep it simple, tried to enjoy my game, enjoy the weather and just laughed a lot through the round,” said Varanyu, who started his round from the first and was five-under par at the turn with four straight birdies from the sixth to ninth holes.
“I like the golf course. It is a lot of fun. So, I am happy to match the course record in my first time playing in Morocco.
“My favourite hole on the golf course is the ninth (537-yard, par-5), because I think I have a chance of making an eagle there.”
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Indonesia’s Peter Gunawan made his first hole-in-one in a competitive round when he aced the par-3 eighth hole, en route to a one-under par 71 effort.
“It was brutal and into the wind. It was playing about 178 yards. All I was thinking was, as long as I keep it left of the pin, the wind is going to push it back in. Hit a 5-iron, keep it about 30 feet left of the pin and see what happens,” said the 29-year-old Gunawan, who will be looking to make his first top-10 finish on the Asian Development Tour.
“I’m kind of blind, and I did not see it go in. My playing partner saw it and I was like, ‘Nah, it can’t be’. I went to the toilet, and when I came out, that was a happy little surprise.”
Apart from the winner’s cheque in the $125,000 event, the champion this week will almost be assured one of the two invitations up for grabs for the US$2 million International Series Morocco, which will be played from July 3-6. The two leading players from the aggregate money list from the two Morocco ADT events (not otherwise exempt) will earn the invitations.
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