New Zealand’s Elliot Boult fired a six under par 66 to upstage a Danish trio of challengers, Soren and Anders Hansen and Nils Rorbaek, in the first round of the West of Ireland Classic at Galway Bay Golf and Country Club Hotel.
Boult, 33, missed his card by one shot at the Qualifying School finals last November, but returned to Europe to play in a handful of Challenge Tour events this season, losing in a play-off on his first start in the Diners Club Austrian Open.
However Boult has kept working towards gaining his card via the Challenge Tour and he admitted: “I am 38th at the moment, but if I can finish first or second this week I would get my card for sure. That’s the beauty of this ‘joint ranking’ event with the money counting towards both Order of Merit lists.”
Boult, born in Blenheim of English parents who emigrated from London in 1962, grabbed six birdies in a flawless card to move ahead of Rorbaek and the Hansens, who live with the constant misconception that they are brothers.
In fact, Anders is 28 and Soren 25 – although the similarities between them are remarkable. Both hail from Copenhagen, they travel together and are rooming together in the Galway Bay Hotel this week.
They even managed to claim holes in one this week – Anders in Morocco, Soren in the German Open (where he won a BMW) – while their five-birdie, no-bogey rounds of 67 in Galway left both Danes smiling at the coincidences.
Anders said: “We’re not related as some people think, but we do have a healthy rivalry, which is good. We want each other to do well and it that happens it spurs the other one on to do the same.”
Soren, ranked 103rd on the Volvo Order of Merit – four behind behind his friend – added: “I do like playing in Ireland. I finished 25th in the Irish Open after starting by holing an eight iron for an eagle two at the first. I would love a good week to secure my card and try to improve next year.”
Rorbaek, 27, playing in his first full European Tour event, noticed that his fellow Copenhagen residents had notched up bogey-free rounds before he set out and vowed to emulate them. He succeeded and said: “This is a good chance to make progress as all the money counts on the Challenge Tour as well as the regular Tour.”
Ryder Cup points seekers, Padraig Harrington and Costantino Rocca, made solid starts. Harrington, 16th on the qualifying list, fired a 69 after making two superb up-and-downs at his last two holes, while Rocca settled for a solid 70.
