Round one report
Marcus Helligkilde will take a three-stroke lead into day two of the Vierumäki Finnish Challenge after a stunning 11 under par opening round of 61 at Vierumäki Resort.
Helligkilde carded ten birdies and an eagle as he moved into pole position, while compatriot Oliver Hundebøll carded a round of 64 and shares second place with Sweden’s Tim Widing, Ireland’s Robin Dawson and England’s Todd Clements on eight under par.
The 24-year-old Dane came out of the blocks at blistering pace with seven birdies in his first eight holes and the he believes his putter played a paramount role in his sensational round of golf.
“I’ve been putting very poorly this year but today I think I gained about five strokes on the greens so I think that was big part of why I was successful today,” he said. “Seven under through eight holes is pretty good and to be honest I just holed everything today and hit some pretty bad shots which still ended up being tap in birdies, so that’s just golf.
“I have actually shot a 59 before but this is my second-best round I think, so I’ll definitely take that any day.”
Helligkilde, who finished in second place at the Range Servant Challenge by Hinton Golf earlier this season, reaped the rewards of patience as he withdrew from the temptation of attacking tough pin locations at Vierumäki Resort.
“I played pretty conservative and aimed mainly for the centre of greens here, aiming three metres right of the pin because they are tough,” he said. “Of course, to have a good round of golf you need a certain amount of luck. I might play better tomorrow and only shoot five under so you just never know what’s going to happen.”
Two-time Challenge Tour winner Jens Dantorp, Englishman David Langley, South African Ruan Conradie and Spaniard Alfredo Garcia-Heredia share sixth place on seven under par while ten players share tenth place on six under par including another Dane Niklas Nørgaard Møller and Germany’s Yannik Paul.
The second round of the Vierumäki Finnish Challenge will begin at 7:30am local time, with Helligkilde teeing it up alongside Dantorp and Finland’s Juuso Kahlos at 1:00pm.
Scores after round one:
61 M HELLIGKILDE (DEN),
64 T WIDING (SWE), T CLEMENTS (ENG), R DAWSON (IRL), O HUNDEB?LL (DEN),
65 D LANGLEY (ENG), R CONRADIE (RSA), A GARCIA-HEREDIA (ESP), J DANTORP (SWE),
66 B HUTCHINSON (ENG), A ARIZABALETA (COL), L SCALISE (ITA), J SVENSSON (SWE), P NYHOLM (SWE), U COUSSAUD (FRA), J KENNEGARD (SWE), Y PAUL (GER), N M?LLER (DEN),
67 M WIEGELE (AUT), F MORY (FRA), M GRADECKI (POL), L CIANCHETTI (ITA), J AXELSEN (DEN), H GODDARD (ENG), P KUEST (USA), S FORSSTR?M (SWE),
68 D FOOS (GER), C MIVIS (BEL), L NEMECZ (AUT), B VIRTO (ESP), S HENRY (SCO), P MCBRIDE (IRL), G CASTAGNARA (ITA), O GILLBERG (SWE), N REGNER (AUT), T MURRAY (ENG), L RUUSKA (FIN), F SCHOTT (GER), R KARLSSON (FIN), V MEYER (GER), M CARLSSON (SWE), J MURPHY (IRL),
69 J K?LBING (GER), K KOIVU (FIN), O LINDELL (FIN), B NEIL (SCO), M FENASSE (FRA), T BESSA (POR), C ROSS (SCO), J KO (FRA), M ROHWER (RSA), C BLOMSTRAND (SWE), A HIDALGO (ESP), R KAKKO (FIN), J BEKIRIAN (FRA), A PENDARIES (FRA), M LINDBERG (SWE), E KOFSTAD (NOR),
70 A TOSTI (ARG), J LONG (ENG), I CANTERO GUTIERREZ (ESP), J FREIBURGHAUS (SUI), A KLUIBENSCH?DL (AUT), T BALTL (AUT), M HONKALA (FIN), R VAN WEST (NED), H ARKENAU (GER), J FLOYDD (ENG), A LINTUNEN (AM) (FIN), M SVENSSON (SWE), R PETERSSON (SWE), N JOHANSSON (SWE), J LANDO CASANOVA (FRA), C BERARDO (FRA), D HUIZING (NED), C CANNON (ENG), E HAAVISTO (AM) (FIN), T ROSENM?LLER (GER),
71 F BERGAMASCHI (ITA), A PLANT (ENG), J GIRRBACH (SUI), K ULENAERS (BEL), E FERGUSON (SCO), T TETAK (AM) (SVK), N HELLBERG (FIN), C SAHLSTROM (SWE), M ELVIRA (ESP), A AHOKAS (FIN), B GILL (ENG), A AHOUA (FRA), M HIRMER (GER), P L?NGFORS (SWE), M ORTOLANI (ITA),
72 B MACPHERSON (AUS), P EDBERG (SWE), S GANDON (FRA), J SAAREKS (AM) (FIN), G KRISTJANSSON (ISL), A JOHN (GER), D QUINONES (USA), A BJORNSSON (ISL), H ELLIS (ENG), M EGGENBERGER (SUI), C SIMBERG (FIN), J YATES (IRL), J SUGRUE (IRL), E ISOMETSA (FIN), A HIETALA (FIN), J MAICAS (ESP), E JOHANSEN (NOR), G BLOOR (ENG), D BORDA (ESP), J GRIS (FRA),
73 D KEMMER (USA), B PETURSSON (ISL), M ORRIN (ENG), I SAULO (FIN), J JONES (CAN), S GROS (FRA), C O’ROURKE (IRL), F JORDANSSON (SWE), P MEJOW (GER), M LUNDBERG (SWE), E LIPPARELLI (ITA), S FERNANDEZ (ESP), V VISKARI (AM) (FIN),
74 M BELTRAN (ESP), D CAREY (IRL), ? ZACH (CZE), V PASTOR (ESP), P BAEK (DEN), J JOLKKONEN (FIN), B HELLGREN (SWE), A CUENCA (ESP), M GALIANO AGUILAR (ESP),
75 M BREMNER (RSA), E MYLLYMAKI (FIN), A MYLLYMAKI (FIN), H DU PLESSIS (RSA), J KAHLOS (FIN),
76 I SCHEZ-PALENCIA (ESP), M LAMPERT (GER), S SANTALA (FIN), D RAVETTO (FRA),
77 T SALMINEN (FIN), S GREGORY (ENG), F DAUX (FRA), S WORTELBEOR (SUI), P EROFEJEFF (FIN), H WOAN (ENG), H SHERIDAN – MILLS (ENG), M LUOMA (AM) (FIN), M VEIJALAINEN (FIN),
78 N KRISTENSEN (DEN), A KOPP (AUT),
84 H HILBURGER (AM) (GER),
