Filippo Celli and Sam Hutsby both posted nine under par opening rounds of 63 to claim a share of the Andalucía Challenge de Cádiz lead after day one.
Italian Celli carded an eagle, eight birdies and a single bogey to set the target early in the day before Englishman Hutsby produced a memorable bogey-free round which included three eagles to join the top of the leaderboard.
The duo lead by two from Germany’s Philipp Mejow, who posted a seven under par round of 65 to climb into third place.
Celli, who picked up the Silver Medal for the leading amateur at the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews last year, is looking to become the third consecutive Italian winner on the Challenge Tour after Matteo Manassero and Andrea Pavan’s recent triumphs.
“I’m very happy with my round today,” he said. “My ball striking was really good, and I only missed one green, so I can’t ask for more than that. I put the ball close to the flags today and luckily the putter was hot too.
“I eagled the par four 14th after holing out with a wedge from 140 metres and things certainly went my way today. I only made one bogey after I missed the green on 18. I hit a good chip but unfortunately, I missed the putt and dropped a shot.
“It was raining a lot when I started my round this morning, however the wind was quite calm. The wind started to pick up on my final four holes, so I think it was definitely better to be out there early.”
Hutsby was pleased to re-discover his form in Cádiz having struggled to find a level of consistency since earning DP World Tour playing privileges through Qualifying School.
“It was a special day with three eagles on the card,” he said. “Everything seemed to go my way with a couple of chip-ins and two very long putts.
“I haven’t been playing my best golf in recent weeks on the DP World Tour and my confidence was relatively low coming into the week. Today is what I needed and there were some great signs out there on the course.
“I tried not to analyse my swing too much because I’m quite a feel player. I drove the ball very well today and it was nice that everything came together. It’s only my second round this year where I’ve been bogey-free.”
South African Keenan Davidse, Spaniard Pedro Oriol, Australian Jordan Zunic and American Aman Gupta share fourth place on six under par, while six players are a shot further back on five under including four-time DP World Tour winner Manassero.
The second round will get under way at 8:00am local time, with Hutsby teeing it up at 9:10am and Celli at 1:10pm.
