Wiltshire’s Ben Stow believes a six-week break In July after an injury, has left him feeling fresher for the China leg of the European Challenge Tour. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

WILTSHIRE’S Ben Stow celebrated his birthday in style by setting a new course record of 64 at Foshan Golf Club to lead the Foshan Open by one stroke after the opening day.

The 28-year-old sits one shot ahead of Germany’s Alexander Knappe, who would have joined Stow as holder of the course record of eight-under par, if not for a closing bogey to leave him on seven-under.

Another six players share third place on six-under, including 2017 Champion Oliver Farr.

Stow, playing in the first group of the day off the 10th tee, bounced back from a double bogey on the 17th hole – his eighth – with a birdie to make the turn in two-under.

The 2013 Brabazon Trophy winner then notched five consecutive gains from the second to the sixth, which catapulted him to the top of the leaderboard.

And a closing birdie saw him beat the existing course record of 65, set by Wales’ Rhys Davies and Aussie Scott Arnold.

Stow, alongside playing partners Wil Besseling and Simon Hawkes, raced around Foshan Golf Club, with their front nine taking just one hour and 50 minutes and Stow spoke of how much he enjoyed the pace of play.

“It was great to play so quickly,” Stow said. “We played the front nine in one hour and 50 minutes, which in tournament golf is unheard-of,” revealed Stow, who is currently 26th on the Road to Mallorca.

“It was great. We were out first and with Wil and Simon – none of us are slow – we didn’t really rush. We just played when we were ready. It was really enjoyable actually.

“I played great and putted well so I’m really chuffed. I’ve been working really hard recently so it’s nice to get some results,” said Stow, who was a member at Rushmore GC, on the Hampshire-Wiltshire border, as a junior.

The 2011 Faldo Series UK winner would love a top 15 finish to the season to earn promotion to the European Tour and join former Wiltshire team-mate Jordan Smith.

Stow added: “I played really solid and I just hit one bad tee shot down 17. Where I left my approach shot left me with a very, very fast putt and I just missed it coming back.

“I knew I was playing well and on 18 the wind was down when we played it. So I managed to get it quite a long way up 18 and then I easily made the green in two – then it was a good two-putt.”

The 2018 Prague Golf Challenge winner missed a period of time earlier this year through injury, having also suffered a serious knee injury before his breakthrough win a year ago.

But despite the frustration of being side-lined at the time, Stow admits he is now reaping the benefits of the enforced mid-season break.

“Traditionally I haven’t played very well in China, but I had six weeks off this year with an injury in July, and right now, I think it’s a bit of a saving grace because I feel fresh and quite chilled out,” said Stow, who spent four years playing for Kentucky University’s Wildcats.

“In previous years I’ve always played quite a lot and then got here and felt quite tired. So maybe the moral of the story is take a month off in July.”

Joining Farr in a tie for third place on six-under is Australia’s Cory Crawford, Royal Liverpool’s Italian Challenge Open Eneos Motor Oil Champion Matthew Jordan, Finland’s Roope Kakko, Kent’s Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge winner Steven Tiley and Italy’s Aron Zemmer.

Rounding off the top 10 in a tie for ninth place on five-under is Portugal’s Ricardo Santos and China’s Liu Yanwei, who is currently the leading Chinese player.

•The second round of the Foshan Open begins at 6.55am local time on Friday, with leader Stow due off at 11.10am.

To follow live scoring click here.

The post Ben Stow is fully back up to speed at Foshan Open after six-week injury lay-off in July appeared first on Golf North.

Matthew Jordan is seeking his second win on the European Challenge Tour in the Hainan Open, and is ina seven-way tie for first at the halfway point. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

SEVEN players share the 36-hole lead on seven-under at the Hainan Open, following a day of relatively low scoring at China’s Sanya Luhuitou Golf Club.

Holland’s Wil Besseling, Frenchman Robin Roussel and China’s Liu Yanwei set the target after teeing off early on day two, while Hampshire’s Richard Bland and Royal Liverpool’s Matthew Jordan – plus China’s Xiao Bowen and South Korean Jaewoong Eom – joined them on seven-under as darkness began to descend over Sanya.

Of the leaders, Liu posted the lowest round as a six-under 66 earned him a share of the lead, while Besseling and Bland posted rounds of 67.

Bland, whose only victory in more than 570 European and Challenge Tour appearances came in the Grand Final back in 2001, is looking to regain the card he lost last year.

The Stoneham GC member, who is currently third on the Road to Mallorca rankings, said: “It was another hot day. I played the back nine, which was our front nine, well and I think I turned in 32.

“I felt like I actually left a couple out there. I played a little scrappy on the back. My short game kept me going, which was nice because you need that,” said Bland, who lost a play-off in the 2002 Irish Open.

“The ninth is just playing like an absolute brute, especially with that back right flag – you’re not getting anywhere near that,” added Bland,

“It was disappointing to make five but I’m not going to lose any sleep over it – not that I’m sleeping at the minute anyway!

“I’ve been coming to China for quite a number of years and flying East for a number of years and I still haven’t worked out how you sleep for those first four or five nights.

“I feel like I sleep great and then I look at the clock and I’ve been asleep for an hour-and-a-half.

“I haven’t been tired on the course or anything like that. I’ve been staying very hydrated. It would be nice to sleep a bit better, but hopefully that will come.

Xiao, Eom and Roussel signed for rounds of 68, while Wirral-based Jordan added a 70 to his opening 67.

Jordan, who would like to join Walker Cup team-mates Scott Gregory and Robert MacIntyre on the main tour, said: “I’ve played well. I started off the first round a bit iffy.

“I saved it a little bit in the first seven holes but from then on, from about the eighth hole yesterday, I played solid. I’ve shown positives on both days, so I’m happy.

“I didn’t think it was that different to yesterday,” added the winer of the Italian Challenge Open Eneos Motor Oil, in June.

“I did battle well actually, yesterday I just got up and down a couple more times,” said 23-year-old Jordan. “Over the two days I’ve been very solid and it doesn’t take much to pick up a shot or drop a shot.

“It’s a great event. It’s great to come to China, I’ve never been here before.

“It’s good to experience different things like the cuisine and course. The course is obviously very good. I haven’t heard one person say anything bad about it. The wind keeps it honest.”

Chinese ace Liu Yanwei said: “I had an early tee time this morning and the wind was low and then became stronger, but it was still better than yesterday.

“I didn’t play badly yesterday with seven birdies, but I got six bogeys and made some mistakes to end with a score of one-under.

“I controlled it a lot better today, with the same number of birdies, but I only bogeyed the 14th hole.”

Twenty-two year old Liu added: “I had an early tee time this morning and the wind was low and then became stronger, but it was still better than yesterday.

“I didn’t play badly yesterday with seven birdies, but I got six bogeys and made some mistakes to end with a score of one-under.

I controlled it a lot better today, with the same number of birdies, but I only bogeyed the 14th hole.

“Over the past two days, the ninth hole has caused trouble for most of us. It is 480 yards long and we had to play against the wind.

The wind direction has been basically the same since Tuesday, but it was a bit different on the seventh and eighth holes today.”

One shot further back is Frenchman Damien Perrier, Chinese duo Bai Zheng-kai and He Shaocai – who posted the low round of the day with a 65 – and Yeh Yu-Chen, from Chinese Taipei, who all share eighth place on six-under.

In total, 63 players survived the halfway cut of one-over par or lower, including the two Chinese amateurs Chen Guxin and Liu Enhua.

•To follow lives scores in the third round of the Hainan Open click here.

The post Nothing Bland about course or food in China as Jordan hits front with six others appeared first on Golf North.