James Busby continued his fine form from the weekend , where he won the Pre Tournament Pro Am confortably with his team of 3 Amateurs, by setting the pace in round one of the Hi5 Pro Tour AlTorreal Open staged in Murcia , Spain. He was the only player in the field to shoot below par in tricky scoring conditions over the Dave Thomas designed course .
 
James posted a 1 under par 71 to take a 2 shot lead over Thordur Gissurarson from Iceland into the second rounds play.
 
The Hi5 Pro Tour must congratulate all the AlTorreal team for the great condition of the course and once again for its warm welcome shown to all the staff and Hi5 Pro Tour players .
 
Play continues tomorrow from tee 1 at 0900 h.

Wayne Hachey, co founder of the Hi5 Pro Tour will open the new Desert Golf Academy in Osoyoos B.C. Canada in April, 2011. The Desert Golf Academy will feature state of the art golf teaching equipment and will provide golf students Hachey’s accumulative knowledge of top European tour players over the past 15 years. For more information www.desertgolf.ca.

Sluiter blows away the field to win in The Hi5 Pro Tour El Planteo Open .
 
European Tour player Tim Sluiter showed his class by shooting a superb closing round of 63 to secure the ” Hi5 Pro Tour El Planteo Open “  in Alicante,  Spain . It was comprised of 33 shots on the front nine and only 30 shots to complete the back nine leaving Tim on a total of – 11 for the event . This was even more impressive as he played in strong winds coming down the stretch . The round consisted of 9 straight birdies with no dropped shots appearing on the score card.
 
Putting up a superb challenge to Tim this week was , Hooters states player , Chris Paisley from England closing with a final round 71 to finish 3 shots off the mark on -8 .
 
Top senior was Mus Deboub representing Algeria who shot the lowest round on day 2 with a 70 two under par.
 
Top Lady this week was Mari Suursalu from Estonio looking to kick start her playing season in sunny Spain.
 
Next week we finish this years winter tour at the ” Club de Golf Altorreal ” where , we are sure , some more fine Golf will be on show.

El Planteo Pro’s and Am’s take route 66 to lead

Chris Paisley from England and Amateur Cedric Van Wassenhove representing Belgium opened the Hi5 Pro Tour El Planteo Open with respective 66’s to lead the tournament after day 1.

Superb weather in Alicante , Spain saw the players enjoying a welcome break from the cold weather in Northern Europe.

Sharing joint 3rd spot on – 3 are Icelands Vidar Gissurarson and European Tour player Tim Sluiter from the Netherlands .

Scoring conditions look favourable once again tomorrow for round 2 which will commence at 0900 H from tee 1 .

Pontus Leijon of Sweden fired a final round of 66 to end 2 shots ahead of his nearest competitor Jonathan Caldwell of Northern Ireland. Leijon´s total was -13 for the 3 rounds at the newly opened Las Saurines Golf Club near Balsicas Spain. Players had bright blue skies with warm temperatures near 23 degrees for the final round which made for many birdie opportunities throughout the day. It was however Leijon´s patience and solid short game that gave the Swede his first Hi5 Pro Tour victory and the 4500 Euro winners cheque. Caldwell put the pressure on Leijon birdieing the final par 4 18th hole and had the clubhouse lead for 5 minutes. Leijon kept his cool however and hit a tremendous drive down the final hole which set up a short iron to the final green which he hit to about 5 meters away. However the smooth Swede dropped his own final breaking putt for a final birdie. Low round of the day went to Simon Gundorph, who shot a final round 63.

Jens Dantorp  shot a 1 under par today at the 2011 Las Saurines Open near Balsicas Spain and maintains a 1 shot lead over Pontus Leijon also of Sweden who shot a fine 66 today. The two Swedes will battle it out tomorrow for the 4500 Euro first prize cheque and the famous Thomas Sabo winners watch. The Las Saurines Open is the final of the 4 event swing that has taken place throughout the Murcia region the past 4 weeks.

In 3rd place are James Hepworth of England and Jonathan Caldwell of Northern Ireland who are both within 2 shots of the lead at -6 total.

Play for the final round will commence at 9:00

Jens Dantorp of Sweden set the bar today with a 7 under 65 at the 2011 Las Saurines Open. The newly opened Nicklaus design , a 7100 yard course which features some of the best greens you will find in modern golf. The international field of 101 players started the day with slight winds that turned into strong winds that lasted the entire day. Dantorp was very pleased with his bogey free round and 7 birdies and enjoys a 1 shot margin over Jamie Abbott of England who shot a fine 66 which included an eagle on the 8th. In third are two players Morten Hedegaard of Denmark and Fredric Sundberg of Sweden both who came in with 68´s.

Round 2 will begin at 9:30.

Alex Belt from England withstood the extreme conditions that faced all the top 42 players who made the cut this week at the Peraleja Open. Wind gusts throughout the day proved havoc for many of the players, but it was the man from Scarborough England who said he was used to these windy conditions. It was that conditioning that crowned the champion of this weeks event at Peraleja, the 3rd of 4 tournaments of the 2011 Murcia Swing. Belt commented”it was really tough out there today, and I knew if I kept it around par, I would have a chance so I just kept grinding it out”. Belt ended the event in sole position at -4, 1 shot better than Spaniard Carlos Aguilar Quesada. With his victory Belt collected the 4530 Euro winners check as well as the Thomas Sabo winners watch.

Tied 3rd were the Swedish duo of Benny Ahlenback and Pontus Leijon both with 54 hole totals of -2. Ahlenback’s round of two under par 70 catapulted him from T23 to his third position. In total only 5 players managed to break par over the Seve Ballesteros course.

James Maw of England set the “bar” at -10 at the 2011 Peraleja Open today with a fine 66 to go with his 68 yesterday. Maw made 6 birdies and an eagle in his round today and had only 2 bogeys on holes 4 and 12. The young Englishmen who putts with the “claw” grip enjoys a 3 shot lead over Argentinian Pablo Del Grosso who is currrently alone in second at -7. Tied 3rd are Alex Belt of England and Jonathan Caldwell of Northern Ireland who are at -5. Players experienced sunny skies throughout most of the day with slight winds during the afternoon which made the demanding fast greens at Peraleja a challenge for the best of  golfers.

With stronger winds in the forecast, the Hi5 Pro  Tour committee will start play of both tees at 8:20 for the final round on Thursday.

David Palm from Sweden and Englands James Maw both fired 68’s today and share the lead after round 1 of the 2011 Peraleja Open at Sucina,Spain. Cooler temperatures and a few rain showers which softened up the very demanding greens of the Seve Ballesteros design gave the players some good scoring chances but only 21 players were able to break par today. The international field of 102 players representing more than 18 countries will continue tomorrow morning at 8:10, after which the top 40 players will move onto the final round of the 54 hole event.