Tadeáš Tetak posted a bogey-free eight under par 64 to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Big Green Egg German Challenge powered by VcG.
The Slovakian took advantage of favourable afternoon conditions at Wittelsbacher Golfclub to card eight birdies and move one-shot clear of Spaniard Manuel Elvira, who sits in second place on seven under.
“I’m very happy with the way I played today,” he said. “Even when I got into trouble, I tried to play smart and aim for the wide side of the hole. I made the putts I needed to make and it’s nice to see my putting practice finally paying off.
“There is a good score out there on this course if you hit the ball solidly and putt well. The weather was worse in the morning, and I knew I would have it a little better in the afternoon.”
The University of Central Florida graduate credited a conservative approach to his excellent start in Germany and was delighted to keep bogeys off his scorecard.
“If I can stick to this game plan over the next three days, I will be very happy,” he said. “I wasn’t overly aggressive, and I just stuck to my strengths by hitting good numbers and then took advantage when the opportunity presented itself.
“You can be aggressive off the tee but if you go off line then you are going to get stuck behind the trees and leave yourself having to chip out sideways. I focused on hitting clubs that didn’t bring high numbers on my scorecard into consideration.”
Tetak is looking to follow in the footsteps of countryman Rory Sabbatini, who won the silver medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, and inspire the next generation of golfers in Slovakia.
“Golf isn’t very big in Slovakia,” he said. “There are only six or seven tournament standard golf courses in the country because football and hockey are the main sports. Golf is definitely on the rise and hopefully it’s going to keep getting bigger over the next few years and I can play a part in that.”
Englishman Daniel Brown and Poland’s Mateusz Gradecki share third place on six under par, while Northern Irishman Tom McKibbin, Spaniard Ivan Cantero Gutierrez and Germany’s Max Schmitt share fifth on five under.
The second round in Germany will begin at 7:20am local time, with Tetak teeing it up alongside Spaniard Victor Garcia Broto and Germany’s Tim Wiedemeyer at 7:31am.
