Parc on form to lead in Turkey

Brian Lee put aches and pains to one side as he paired up with Carl Hicks to fire Parc Golf Club to the overnight lead in the Golfplan Insurance PGA Pro-Captain Challenge.

Lee, the Newport club’s PGA Professional, had been plagued by back trouble ever since arriving at Antalya Golf Club for the championship final – not that he was going to let that stop him and captain Hicks taking a crack at the resort’s famous PGA Sultan Course.

Instead he summoned an impressive five birdies during a stellar round on the Turkish coast, where he was more than ably supported by his captain.

In fact the decisive moment lay in the hands of Hicks, who works full time as course manager at Parc. He was calmness personified as he holed a vital putt for par at the tricky 18^th hole.

That left them sitting pretty with an eight-under-par 63, one shot ahead of defending champions Jason Levermore and Graeme Harvey who are ominously positioned in second place.

“At one point I was worried I might not be able to play, but I got plenty of rest and a massage and luckily that saw me through,” explained Lee.

“It’s great to be at the top of the leaderboard, and pleasing that we’ve been able to do it without having too much chance to practise in the run up to the event.

“But to be honest I’m just pleased to be out here playing golf and enjoying the experience of playing in Turkey – we’d heard a lot about it in the run up to the event.

“This part of the world has become a bit of a golfing haven in recent years, so I’m glad to have the chance to come over and play here.”

The Welsh duo were drawn to play alongside Cardiff Golf Club, who ended the day in fourth place, in the first round.

And with just eight miles separating the two teams they were spurred on by a bit of local rivalry.

Parc have previous here, though, their duo of Richard Dinsdale and Steven Hook winning the event in 2010, the first year it was held at Antalya.

“This has been an incredible experience,” enthused Hicks. “It’s great to be able to come here and represent the club in an event like this.

"The course is outstanding – I just wish I could take the climate back to Wales!

“As a club we did win here in the past when Richard was PGA Professional, but now Brian’s come in, he’s an exceptional pro and luckily he’s doing the business at the moment."

Channels PGA Professional Levermore, meanwhile, was in confident mood after making a solid start to the defence of his title.

“We started slowly today but did well over the back nine,” he explained. “All in all it was steady, we didn’t do anything wrong or put ourselves under any pressure.

“Today was the perfect conditions for golf which contributed to the low scoring, we’re expecting things to be a little bit tougher tomorrow – but we’re looking forward to it.”