Gone with the wind in Catalunya
Lumine Golf & Beach Club
Strong winds forced play to be suspended for the day in the Challenge de Catalunya on the European Challenge Tour.
Players forced off the course early on Friday morning at Lumine Golf & Beach Club and with little progress possible in the second round, officials called a halt to play at 9.50am after the wind made the course unplayable.
With the early groups not even making it to the turn and first round leader Joakim Mikkelsen scheduled to have been among the afternoon starters, the limited play meant there was little impact on the leaderboard, with only Englishman George Woolgar making strides following a birdie on the second of the three holes he completed.
That moved him up to five under par, three shots behind Norwegian Mikkelsen who set a blistering pace on Thursday with a course record first round of eight under par 63, and tied for fourth with Alan Dunbar and Ruaidhri McGee, who did not get to start after opening with 66s on Thursday.
David Higgins was one over after six holes of his second round and tied 44th on two under with Niall Kearney, who did not get to start.
Gareth Shaw opened his second round with three pars to remain on two over and tied 114th.
Mikkelsen is a shot clear of Frenchman Adrien Saddier, who also did not get his second round under way, with American Connor Arendell a further shot back.
With the wind showing no signs of abating, the decision was taken at 12.55pm to cancel play for the rest of the day. The second round will resume on Saturday morning at 9am, with the afternoon groups teeing off between 12.20pm and 2.20pm.
