England’s Joe Heraty set the early pace at the BRG Open Golf Championship yesterday, posting a first round score of 67 to secure a single shot lead on the Nicklaus course.

Kade McBride of Australia and Thailand’s Nopparat Panichphol were the early clubhouse leaders from the morning wave, finishing on four under par.

They were later joined by Ireland’s Kevin Phelan, Australia’s Deyen Lawson, Saksit Jairak of Thailand and Naoki Sekito of Japan as the first day concluded at the US$100,000 Asian Development Tour event.

Despite a couple of dropped shots, with seven birdies on his card Heraty was feeling upbeat after posting his score.

“It was good, obviously feel like I could have had more but it’s a question of being patient, hitting good shots at the right times and not being too aggressive to some of those pins. There’s a few sneaky pins out there so overall I feel pretty good,” he said after his round.

“The wind picked up in the middle of the round which made a few tee shots and approach shots a bit tricky.

“I just tried to play a bit smart really, nothing too fancy. The greens were good. They felt a bit quicker (than the practice round) but they really are immaculate, if you roll your putt on line, you know whether its going to go in or not,” he added.

Nattawat Suvajanakorn of Thailand pictured in action at the BRG Open Golf Championship Da Nang 2023. Picture courtesy BRG Golf Resort Da Nang.

Buoyed by a strong start, and even though this is his first visit to Vietnam and the Da Nang Golf Resort, Heraty has a clear idea of how he hopes to continue tomorrow.

“I plan to just keep playing aggressively conservative, that’s the only way to do it around here. You can’t try to hit the wonder shot on every hole, so just keep the mistakes off the card, and hole some more putts,” he explained.

Heading a group in eighth place was India’s Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, winner of last week’s BNI Ciputra Golfpreneur tournament and the current leader of the 2023 Order of Merit. He shares the spot on three under par with Thailand’s Thanpisit Omsin.

On two under par, in 10th place, are India’s Samarth Dwivedi, Malaysia’s Amir Nazrin and Galven Green, Justin Quiban of the Philippines, Sweden’s Filip Lundell, Daniel Core of Canada and the Thai trio of Jakraphan Premsirigorn, Amarin Kraivixien and Worrasorn Suwanpanang.

Vietnamese amateur Nguyen Anh Minh, winner of the Bronze Medal in the Men’s Individual event at this year’s SEA Games, pictured in action at the BRG Open Golf Championship Da Nang 2023. Picture courtesy BRG Golf Resort Da Nang.

Vietnam’s top finisher after Round One was Nguyen Nhat Long with a share of 19th place, and the talented Vietnamese amateur Nguyen Anh Minh, winner of the Bronze Medal in the Men’s Individual competition at the 2023 SEA Games, finished on even par in a share of 27th.

Recently bolstered by the additional sponsorship provided by Vietnam’s SeABank, the BRG Open Golf Championship is in its second year on the Asian Development Tour, and there are plans to include more future events in an emerging golf market.

Play continues tomorrow on the challenging Nicklaus course, one of the longest tracks in Asia and the first true Florida-style bulkhead course in Southeast Asia.

The tournament boasts a diverse international field of 144 players from across the region, including 99 ADT members who play alongside 20 professionals nominated by the Vietnam Golf Association.