Staff WriterCanon Claycomb made the Challenge de Catalunya look rather less like a professional golf tournament and rather more like a private putting lesson on Thursday, firing a nine-under-par 63 to take a one-shot lead after a low-scoring opening day in Girona.
The American’s card was a lively little masterpiece: eight birdies, one eagle and a single bogey, the latter arriving at the par four first before his round properly discovered the accelerator.
For most players, opening with a three-putt bogey is enough to make the shoulders climb towards the ears. Claycomb, however, treated it like a badly parked buggy — annoying, but hardly fatal.
Claycomb Turns A Bogey Into A Launchpad
Claycomb recovered with birdies at the fourth, sixth and eighth to turn in 34, already moving nicely but not yet threatening to tear the doors off the clubhouse.
Then came the back nine.
He eagled the tenth, birdied the 11th and 12th, and suddenly Girona had the unmistakable feel of a man catching fire with a scorecard in his pocket. Five birdies and an eagle after the turn added up to a flawless inward nine of 29 — the kind of number that makes fellow professionals glance at the leaderboard as if someone has typed it in wrong.
“I feel great, my back nine was fantastic,” he said. “I got off to a great start on the back; I eagled 10 and birdied 11 and 12 and shot 29 so I’ll just try to keep the momentum going into tomorrow.
“For the first time in a long time, it felt easy. So hopefully that continues.
“You know, it’s actually funny that I started with a bogey, because one of my best friends from high school would always say that all great rounds start with a bogey.
“I hit a great tee shot on one, hit the green and then three putted, so it wasn’t like a terrible bogey, I just three putted from 40 feet.”
A Maiden HotelPlanner Tour Season Gathering Shape
Claycomb’s opening round at the Challenge de Catalunya continues what has been a promising start to his maiden season on the HotelPlanner Tour.
He already has a tied tenth finish at the CIRCA Cape Town Open to his name, and while last week’s Italian Challenge Open ended with a missed cut, he arrived in Spain with more confidence than the results sheet might suggest.
There was also a practical difference in Girona: the return of trusted help on the bag.
“I felt pretty good coming into this week, I felt like I played decent in Italy last week. It was my first time seeing the golf course for a while and I didn’t have a caddie last week, so having Jack on the bag today helped me. He went through numbers well today and I think that might’ve been a big difference maker already for me this week.”
That detail matters. At this level, the difference between 69 and 63 can be a yardage, a club, a line, or simply the confidence to commit when the tournament is still finding its rhythm.
Claycomb had all of it on Thursday.
Kennedy Keeps The Pressure On
England’s Frank Kennedy sits alone in second place on eight under par, just one stroke behind Claycomb after an excellent opening effort of his own.
Behind Kennedy, Italy’s Lorenzo Scalise and Switzerland’s Ronan Kleu share third on seven under par, leaving the top of the leaderboard tightly packed and very much alive heading into Friday.
That is the danger of a low-scoring opener. One man shoots 63 and thinks he has built a little fence around the lead, only to discover half the field has already found the gate.
Girona Sets Up A Proper Friday Chase
The second round of the Challenge de Catalunya gets underway on Friday morning at 8 am local time, with Claycomb due out alongside fellow American Collin Adams and Dutchman Wouter de Vries at 2:55 pm.
The task now is wonderfully simple and brutally difficult: follow the best round of your week with something tidy enough to stay in front.
Claycomb has the lead, the momentum, and the useful knowledge that a poor first hole does not have to ruin a good day. In fact, on Thursday in Girona, it may have been the strangest blessing on the card.
