Dutch treat: Van Der Valk up by 2 shots

STA. ROSA, LAGUNA – The Netherlands’ Guido Van Der Valk finished with a 4-under par 68 with an almost perfect game as he claimed a two-shot lead under windy conditions after the first round of the P5 million The Country Club Invitational yesterday at the TCC course here.

Van Der Valk, 36, surged at five-under through 14 holes of this event which serves as the kickoff leg of the new ICTSI Philippine Golf Tour season.

On the 15th, however, the 36-yearold Dutch was penalized two strokes for hitting a wrong ball – his flightmate Orlan Sumcad’s – for his second shot and settled with a double-bogey.

Van Der Valk was able to recover, though, as he saved pars on the next two holes then finished his round with a birdie on 18 – his sixth – for a two-shot advantage over Fil-German Keanu Jahns.

Despite the blemish on his scorecard, Van Der Valk was pleased with his performance.

“The double-bogey was a bit unfortunate,” said Van Der Valk, who is married to a Filipina, Loradelle, and is now based in Alabang. “It was almost a perfect golf. Other than that (doublebogey), I think I played good.”

“On this golf course, any birdie is important. But more importantly for me is that the round is good. I’m not as afraid to miss the green, there was good chance to putt,” added Van Der Valk, who also birdied 5, 18, 10, 12 and 14.

As for the 22-year-old Jahns, whose father is from Germany, he described his opening round as “fantastic” despite mixing his birdies on 8, 10, 12 and 18 with bogeys on 13 and 16.

“It’s a fantastic score for a condition and course like this. It’s windy,” said Jahns, whose biggest shot in the first round of the tournament was a difficult 30-foot uphill putt on 12.