Traditional weather for central Highlands in July – driving rain, mountains obscured by fog, four layers worth of chill even for the hardly locals – were no deterrence to the fortitude of Welshman Richard James at the SSE Scottish Hydro Challenge.
James’ first full season on the Challenge Tour had already been disrupted by having his appendix removed just a month and a half ago, and he seemingly had little chance of a place at Aviemore at a lowly 17th on the reserve list just last weekend.
Yet he nevertheless drove the eight-hour, 450-mile journey from West Wales to the heart of the Scottish Highlands just on the off chance he might sneak into the field, got his due reward with a spot as others pulled out – perhaps looking at the weather forecast – and then shot a remarkable six-under 65 in yesterday’s foul conditions to lead.
He leads by two from a group including two Northern Irishmen in Dermot McElroy and the former Dunhill Links champion Michael Hoey, but the nearest sign of a Scotsman in almost atypical native conditions are Jack Doherty a full five strokes back of the lead.
James graduated from the third-tier circuit the EuroPro Tour last year but has had what he describes as a difficult start to the year”.
“I had my appendix out midway through May, I missed five weeks of golf, so it has been quite hard to get back into things,” he said.
“I didn’t think I would be here to be honest. I was 17th reserve come Sunday, but I thought I should just gamble and come up here – and I’m really happy that so far it has paid off.
“It is a really nice course and I think it suits me – especially off the tee. You also have to be a good iron player to hit it in to the right parts of the green, and I feel that is also a good aspect of my game.”
Aviemore recorded a temperature of 27 degrees last month, but it was less than a third of that with July just 48 hours away.
“It was brutal out there,” continued James. “The wind was up and down and gusting a lot, I hit one on nine which I thought was good but it went well over the green. I am happy with my round though and will definitely take a 65.”
James has found what most others do when they come out on this supposedly second division circuit – the standard is dauntingly high.
““The scoring is a lot better and the cuts are a whole lot lower on the Challenge Tour compared to the EuroPro Tour, but it is still playing golf at the end of the day – so we’ll see what happens this season,” he said.
The presence of Hoey – career winnings of €4 million – on the Challenge Tour might be surprising to some but there’s a typical reason for it.
“I’m just still in love with the game and competing,” said the 2011 Dunhill winner after his 67. “I feel I still have my best years to come, my Dad won the Irish closed amateur at 50, and I’m only 38 now.”
Doherty’s 70 followed on from his excellent performance in last week’s Challenge Tour stop in Denmark, where he finished second but was left disappointed.
“Yes, I thought second would be great at the start of the week but when you’re one ahead with two to play, it’s gutting,” said the 35-year-old. “Julian Suri just chucked a couple of birdies at me at the end there.
“But the game’s in great shape and it was good again today, even if it was so cold out there I had four layers on.”
The majority of the home hopes didn’t have a great day all round. Blairgowrie’s Bradley Neil, looking for a morale boosting lift after two missed cuts, started with five pars but was thrown by succeeding double bogeys and eventually finished with a 77.
“I feel my game is close and it’s just about taking it on to the course, which I’m not doing right now,” admitted Neil, still only 21, who has pulled out of Open qualifying next week.
“I just feel going to Gailes would leave me not properly prepared for the Challenge Tour event in the Czech Republic, and I can’t afford that at the moment,” he said.
Grant Forrest had a 74, while Ewen Ferguson didn’t make the first tee, laid low with injury for the second year in succession at this event.
Wallace Booth began his first round with two bogeys and a double, but he wasn’t alone with his troubles. There were a couple of quadruple bogey eights – Jimmy Mullen, the former Walker Cup player, started with one – but also an albatross at the long 13th from Italy’s Lorenzo Gagli, although it eventually only helped him to a one-over 73.
