Gareth Shaw made a solid start in the Colombia MastersLurgan's Gareth Shaw made a strong start to his Challenge Tour campaign when he opened with a fine 69 in the Club Colombia Masters in Bogota.

The 23-year -old Ulsterman, who turned professional last summer, carded four birdies and just one bogey in a solid opening effort that left just two shots off the pace in a share of seventh place on three-under par.

But it was a tougher day for the rest of the Irish in action as Noel Fox opened with a one-over par 73, Alan Murray signed a four-over par 76 and Colm Moriarty hit a five-over par 77.

Fox had three birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey six in a 73 that left him tied for 67th place.

But there was real disappointment for Greystones man Murray, who ran up a quadruple bogey nine at the par-five eighth in his 76.

Moriarty managed just one birdie in a 77 that also featured four bogeys and a double bogey six at the 12th.

Denmark’s Mark F Haastrup fired a five-under par 67 for a share of the lead with home favourite Diego Vanegas.

The 24-year-old, who won The Dubliner Challenge in Sweden in 2008, finished tied runner up behind winner Wil Besseling at Country Club de Bogotá last year and showed the course was once again to his liking with seven birdies in a fine opening round.

“I was more than happy with that start,” Haastrup said. “I was actually a bit nervous before going out – first tournament back nerves but I played really well."

Vanegas carded six birdies and just the single bogey in his round of 67, while fellow Colombian  Ricardo Ruiz is in a group of three players a shot behind the leaders after four under par rounds of 68.

Club Colombia Masters

67 M Haastrup  (Den),  D Vanegas (Col)

68 R Ruiz (Col), P Acuna (Gtm) , C Monasterio (Arg) , A Wagner (Arg) ,

69 J Zapata (Arg) , J Guerrier  (Fra) , S Acevedo (Arg) , P Del Grosso  (Arg) , G Rojas (Arg) , M Guzman (Arg) , M Rodriguez (Arg), W Rodriguez (Arg),  J Billot (Fra) ,R Goti (Arg) , G Shaw (Nir) , P Gustafsson (Swe) , E Molinari (Ita) , L Moolman (RSA) , J Luna(am) (Col)

70 L De Jager  (RSA) , T Nakamura (Jpn) , M Tullo (Chi) , M Molina (Arg) , R Gonzalez (Arg) , L Kennedy  (Eng) , C Russo (Fra) , A Rauhut (Col) ;,J Little  (Eng) , D Ulrich (Sui) , N Bollini  (USA) ;

71 S Juul (Den) , J Abbate (Arg) , F Gomez (Arg) , J Quesne  (Fra) ;, J Morrison  (Eng) , E Herrera (Col) ,B Alvarado (Chi) , R Harris  (Eng) , D Froreich (Ger) , A Bernadet  (Fra) , S Saavedra  (Arg) , A Adrian (Ven) , J Noguera (Arg) , M Fernandez (Arg) , A McArthur  (Sco) , T Whitehouse  (Eng) , O Floren  (Swe)  

72 M Martinez (Ven) , A Villavicencio (Gtm) , M Monguzzi (Arg) , D Barbetti (Arg) , M Villegas (Col) , M Hurtado (Col) , D Altamirano (Arg) , L Dodda  (Arg) ,C Günther (Ger) , A Pinedo (Col) , J Sjoholm (Swe) ; L Westerberg (Swe) ; J Hoyos (Col) ; J Clavijo (Col) ; F Calmels  (Fra) ; B Evans  (Eng) ; R Romero (Col) ;

73 J Moul  (Eng) ; R Treis  (Ger) ; R Barcellos (Bra) ; D Olsen (USA) ; C Aguilar  (Esp) ; R Steiner (Aut) ; E Dominguez (Arg) ; E Gomez (Col) ; J Gil (Arg) ; N Fox  (Irl) ; J Sköld (Swe) ; O Villada (Col) ; A Mörk (Fra) ; O Solis (Ven) ;

74 J Amaya (Col) ; P Kaensche  (Nor) ; J Rivas (Col) ; J Etulain  (Arg) ; B Miarka (Ger) ; R Castaneda (Col) ; A Bruschi  (Ita) ; R Ponce (Ecu) ; A Romero (Col) ; R Bescansa (Esp) ; E Ramsay  (Sco) ; C Brazillier  (Fra) ; A Gee (Eng) ; B Gonzalez  (Col) ; J Grillon  (Fra) ;

75 V Muller (Bra) ; N Maestroni  (Ita) ; J Heath  (Eng) ; R Gomez (Arg) ; M Haremza (Ger) ; F Cerda (Chi) ; K Jorgensen  (Den) ; J Osmar (Col) ; J Lega (Col) ; M Merizalde (Col) ; J Garrido (Col) ; I Giner (Esp) ; A Benenati (Arg) ; L James (Eng) ; P Winther (am) (Den) ; K Sullivan (Wal) ; S Piaget  (Mon) ; F Widmark (Swe) ; D Larrazabal (Ven) ; D Küpper (Ger) ;

76 A Murray (Irl); D Wardrop  (Eng) ; S Giraldo (Col) ; G Acosta (Arg) ; D Vanegas (Col) ;

77 R Fretes (Par) ; V Leoni (USA) ; J Estevez  (Arg) ; A Hansen  (Den) ; M Kramer  (Ger) ; L Saltman (Sco) ; A Grenier  (Fra) ; J Ojeda (Arg) ; G Molteni (Ita) ; C Moriarty (Irl) ;

78 O Alvarez  (Col) ; F Figueroa (Esa) ; F Cabrera (Arg) ;

79 S Jeppesen  (Swe) ; J  Roets (am) (RSA) ; G Mendoza (Col) ; M O'Curry  (Arg) ; J Echeverry (Col) ; G Loroima (Ven) ; G Shacher (Ger) ;

80 R Herrera (Col) ; T Foley (USA) ; P Pinto (Arg) ;

81 T Argonz (Arg) ; L Giometti (Arg) ;

82 C Modesto (Col) ; D Marmion (Eng) ; R Sanz (Ven) ;

86 A Redondo (Col) ;

RTD J Ruth  (Eng) ;