Jean Hugo made an impressive start to the Reignwood Legends Championship, carding a bogey-free seven-under-par 65 to establish a two-shot lead after the opening round at Reignwood Pine Valley in Beijing, China.

The South African took advantage of the calmer morning conditions to set the early clubhouse target, with an eagle at the par-five second helping him race to five-under through his opening nine before two further birdies on the back nine completed a flawless round.

Hugo admitted his opening score exceeded expectations after a windier practice round had highlighted the challenge posed by the firm and fast Reignwood Pine Valley layout. A strong day on the greens proved key, with several important saves maintaining his momentum before a closing birdie at the 18th put the finishing touch to his 65.

Felipe Aguilar, Phillip Archer, Mark Brown and Maarten Lafeber lead the chasing pack at five-under-par after matching rounds of 67, leaving four players within two shots of Hugo heading into Saturday.

Aguilar produced one of the strongest finishes of the opening day, recovering from a slow start to play his final eight holes in five-under-par. The Chilean credited a long birdie putt at the 11th with changing the momentum of his round, before adding four further birdies to move firmly into contention.

Archer’s 67 was more eventful, with the Englishman starting quickly before an eagle at the par-five 13th moved him towards the top of the leaderboard. A double-bogey at the 17th briefly checked his progress, but he responded with a closing birdie to join Aguilar, Brown and Lafeber in a share of second.

Brown mixed eight birdies with three bogeys in his five-under round, while Lafeber recovered from a bogey at the fifth with an eagle at the 13th and four further birdies to also sign for 67.

David Drysdale, Road to Cambodia Order of Merit leader Stephen Gallacher and Matthew Cort are a further shot back at four-under-par following rounds of 68.

Joakim Haeggman had earlier looked set to challenge Hugo at the top of the leaderboard after making a strong start to his opening round. The Swede moved firmly into contention before bogeys later in the day halted his charge, eventually signing for a three-under-par 69 to sit alongside James Kingston, Adilson da Silva and Peter Baker.

With Hugo two shots clear but a tightly-packed chasing group behind, the Reignwood Legends Championship remains finely poised heading into round two at Reignwood Pine Valley.

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Player Reactions

Jean Hugo (-7)

“I’m very pleased. I got a great start this morning with the eagle on two and then birdie three. Quite unexpected. It’s quite a tough course and we had quite a bit of wind in the practice round, so we were thinking something around 70 is a good score every day.”

“I surprised myself, but I think I executed everything quite nicely.”

“I was putting well early on and I made a few saves as well, so that kept the score going. On the back nine I putted well as well, but the two par fives I had irons in and made par. That’s probably the only blemish, but you can’t be greedy. All in all, this was a good day.”

“There are a lot of bunkers and the fairway bunkers give you nice targets to aim at. The greens are quite undulating, so I think if you can manage your game and not always attack, that should be good at the end of the day.”

“Strong off the tee is probably the key around here. You just have to manage your expectations. There are a lot of tricky pins and the greens are quite firm and quick, so sometimes be conservative and the rest of the time you can be strong off the tee.”

Felipe Aguilar (-5)

“I’m quite happy. I had a cold start this morning and couldn’t get it going, but after I made a long putt on 11, everything turned around.”

“Out here, two things are very important: hitting fairways because the greens are very fast and very good, and trying not to make too many mistakes with the putting.”

“I made a great putt, probably 25 or 30 feet on 11, and then another 15 feet around 12. When you break that ice, everything becomes a little bit easier.”

“This is a great golf course. You may think China is far away, but when you come and play this course, it makes it worth it.”

“I’m pleased because I was able to manage it. Tomorrow, same thing – trying to hit fairways and greens and let the putter work.”

Phillip Archer (-5)

“I was just solid, really. I got off to a quick start. I birdied the first, birdied the second and then made a couple of good saves which kept the quick start going.”

“It was all quite solid golf. I hit a super shot into 13 and made eagle from about six feet, so it was going great.”

“I think there was a little bit of fatigue and the swing just lost it towards the end. A couple of loose shots, but I hit a great shot out of the bunker on the last to about two feet and birdied the last as well, so that covered the double bogey on 17.”

“I played lovely and got a couple of breaks out there, but you have to get that to shoot low.”

“It’s a great golf course, a quality golf course. The greens are quick and you can’t miss on the wrong side. You’ve got to play good golf here – it penalises bad shots.”

Søren Hansen (-2)

“I’m pretty pleased with the way I played. Obviously, I haven’t played tournament golf for ten years, so this is my first year playing the Legends. I’m getting signs of really good play.”

“I had a really good round going today and was a bit unfortunate on the last, but all in all I’m quite pleased. I’m progressing in the right direction, so two-under today, I would have taken that before I went out.”

“I really like this golf course. One of the reasons I wanted to come back was that I played here in 2005. I think it suits me really well and it suits my eye.”

“It’s a nice place, we get treated well and it’s all happy days.”

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