Yurav Premlall carded an opening four-under-par 68 on Thursday to be in a share of ninth after the first round of the Challenge Tour’s Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge at Golf PGA France du Vaudreuil in Le Vaudreuil, France.
Premlall had a superb front nine of five-under-par 30 with five birdies and no dropped shots, but a back nine with a double-bogey and a birdie saw him finish three shots off the lead. Christopher Feldborg of Sweden made an eagle and five birdies to reach seven-under and a one-stroke edge over Gregory Bourdy of France and England’s Jamie Rutherford. There were five players in a share of fourth on five-under.
Premlall shared ninth with 11 other players, including countrymen Brandon Stone and Darren Fichardt. Stone started his round on the 10th, and made four birdies and a bogey before the turn. He started the back nine with a double-bogey, but three birdies in the next four holes saw him to his 68. Fichardt started on the first, and had three birdies and a bogey on each of his nines.
It was a quiet day for the other South Africans in the field, as Casey Jarvis was next-best at one-under in a share of 51st, together with Jacques Kruyswijk. Martin Vorster was on level-par, together with Zimbabwe’s Benjamin Follett-Smith. Pieter Moolman and Haydn Porteous were on four-over.
