Stackstown left-hander Richard Bridges fired his first sub-par round of the season with an opening 69 leaving him inside the top 10 at the Pro Golf (EPD) Tour’s €30,000 Open Ocean 2016 in Morocco.

The former Ireland international, who made one cut out of two on the recent EPD Tour visit to Egypt, bogeyed the fourth at Golf de l'Ocean in Agadir but then birdied the eighth, ninth and 11th and parred his way home for a two under par opening effort.

He’s tied eighth and just four strokes behind Germany’s Moritz Lampert, who hit eight birdies in a seven under 64 to lead by two strokes from Switzerland's Joel Girrbach.

Scores

County Meath’s Ciaran Boggan is tied 44th after a two over 73, but it was not a good day for Headfort’s Rory McNamara or Royal County Down’s Reeve Whitson as they finished up well down the field.

McNamara signed for a five over par 76 while Whitson made three double bogeys in his first 10 holes before finishing with eight pars for a six over 77 and a share of 85th.

There are few frills on the mini tours and it's clear from Bridges' tweet (above) that getting around Morocco with several sets of golf clubs is a challenge for the boys and the local taxi service.