Tomas Gouveia took advantage of friendly conditions at GC Adamstal to post a six under par round of 64 to move into a one stroke lead on day one of the Euram Bank Open.
Starting at the tenth, the Portuguese hit the front early after carding four birdies in his first six holes. Four more gains on his back nine, alongside a pair of bogeys, took Gouveia to six under par and one shot ahead of seven others who share second on five under par.
The 29-year-old was delighted with his overall play and cited an aggressive approach in friendly conditions as the key to his low-scoring round.
“I’m very pleased,” he said. “Everything was very good. Off the tee was very good, always in play, the second shots were always very close, and I made a few putts.
“I was able to make a lot of birdies with not many mistakes, and that’s what you want on this golf course to take advantage of conditions, which were pretty good this morning.
“If the weather is like this, sunny, barely any wind, you have to play it aggressive. Off the tee you have to put it in play, then you can play aggressive, so that’s the gameplan.”
Gouveia is in contention at GC Adamstal for the second year running after he carded rounds of 67-70-64-68 at last year’s Euram Bank Open to finish in a share of fifth place, and he highlighted the importance of that experience in guiding his approach to the course this week.
“This is the fourth time I’ve played this course,” he said. “The first two times, I really struggled, but the third time I learned how to play it.
“Last year was really good. I took what I learned last year and did the same today. I’m very happy with it and hopefully I can continue like this.”
At the top of a congested leaderboard, seven others share second, one shot off the lead, including German duo Marc Hammer and Michael Hirmer, Slovakian Tadeáš Teták, South African Justin Walters, Englishman Frank Kennedy, Italian Davide Buchi, and Finn Juusi Kahlos, whose opening round 65 included an ace at the 206-yard par three eighth.
Four players lie a further shot back in ninth, including Frenchman Martin Couvra, Norwegian Herman Sekne, German Anton Albers and Dutchman Lars Keunen.
The second round of the Euram Bank Open gets under way at 7:30am local time, with Gouveia teeing it up alongside Englishman Ashley Chesters and Australian Hayden Hopewell at 1:35pm.
