Steven Lam Tsz-fung overcame a horror start and a lack of recent practice to take a share of the first round lead at the Masters Golf Fashion Hong Kong Open Amateur Championship at Discovery Bay Golf Club Tuesday.
Lam, 18, lost a ball with his opening drive of the day at the cliff-top layout, but shrugged off the ensuing triple bogey superbly with five birdies in a round of one-under-par 71. Lam, who will earn a spot alongside the professionals at December's UBS Hong Kong Open should he emerge victorious on Friday, is tied with Fiji's Vikrant Chandra. The mainland Chinese pair of Huang Yongle and Xiao Jie-yu are a shot back in a share of third.
"It was a good, solid round - apart from the first hole, of course," laughed Lam, who has endured an inconsistent season. "I've been busy with school work and exams recently, so I'm very happy with the way I played. My goal was to try and play my way into the Hong Kong Open, so this is a good start."
Day One Scores
71 - Steven Lam Tsz-fung (Hong Kong), Vikrant Chandra (Fiji)
72 - Huang Yongle (China), Xiao Jie-yu (China)
73 - Sebastian Lorenzo (Philippines)
74 - Park Nam-kyu (Switzerland), Ronald Totton (Hong Kong), Michael Stott (Hong Kong), Charles Davies (Singapore), Alastair Hall (United Kingdom)
75 - Winston Wu (Hong Kong), Hsu Yuan-tung (Taiwan)