OSTRAVA, August 18, 2011 (AFP) - Ireland's Peter Lawrie, who finished runner-up at last season's Czech Open, began his campaign to go one better this year with a one-shot lead after the first round on Thursday.
The 37-year-old carded a bogey-free, six-under-par 66 at the Prosper Golf Resort to lead by one shot from compatriot Damien McGrane, Spain’s Pedro Oriol and France’s Victor Dubuisson.
"The course is playing totally differently this year to last year," said Lawrie. "It's much softer. You're hitting your driver on pretty much every hole, and the ball's not running out in any shape or form.
"The par fives are all out of reach for me, so my short game has to be good, and you have to be quite accurate around here."
Lawrie, runner-up to Peter Hanson in 2010, started on the back nine and birdied the 11th and 14th holes to turn in 34.
He then birdied the first, fifth and sixth holes before finishing in style at the eighth.
McGrane also had six birdies, with the best coming courtesy of a 40-foot putt on the seventh hole, but unlike Lawrie he registered a bogey at the 17th.
"The scoring conditions are perfect, so it’s possible to create a lot of chances," said McGrane.
"But creating them is one thing, converting them quite another. So to make six birdies and just the one bogey was very pleasing."
Leading and selected first round scores in the Czech Open at the Prosper Golf Resort, Celadna on Thursday (GBR/IRL unless stated, par 72):
66 - Peter Lawrie
67 - Damien McGrane, Pedro Oriol (ESP), Victor Dubuisson (FRA)
68 - Mikael Lundberg (SWE), Shane Lowry
69 - Joakim Haeggman (SWE), David Drysdale, Richie Ramsay, Gary Orr, Oskar Henningsson (SWE), Paul McGinley, Lorenzo Gagli (ITA), Jose Manuel Lara (ESP)
70 - Steve Webster, Shiv Kapur (IND), Soren Hansen (DEN), Alfredo Garcia-Heredia (ESP), Rafael Echenique (ARG), Steven O'Hara, Lloyd Saltman, Scott Jamieson, Thongchai Jaidee (THA), Jamie Elson, Sam Walker, Jurgen Maurer (AUT), Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND)
71 - John Parry, Liam Bond, Oliver Fisher, Gary Boyd, Marc Warren, Eirik Tage Johansen (NOR), Miles Tunnicliff, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (ESP), Rafael Cabrera Bello (ESP), Andreas Harto (DEN), Fredrik Ohlsson (SWE), Jeev Milkha Singh (IND), Matthew Nixon, Richard McEvoy, Nick Dougherty, Matthew Zions (AUS), Mark Brown (NZL), Romain Wattel (FRA), Rick Kulacz (AUS), Fabrizio Zanotti (PAR), Keith Horne (RSA), Alexandre Kaleka (FRA)
72 - Carlos Del Moral (ESP), Alvaro Velasco (ESP), Jan Are Larsen (NOR), George Murray, Fredrik Henge (SWE), Maarten Lafeber (NED), Jaco Van Zyl (RSA), Kenneth Ferrie, Graeme Storm, Simon Zach (CZE), Matt Haines, Alejandro Canizares (ESP), Ariel Canete (ARG), Simon Thornton, Manuel Quiros (ESP)
Selected:
73 - Anthony Kang (USA), Wade Ormsby (AUS), George Coetzee (RSA), Brett Rumford (AUS)
74 - Jason Knutzon (USA)
76 - Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP)
78 - Scott Hend (AUS)
80 - Andrew Dodt (AUS)