Torrid time for Wales in Nations Cup

WALES endured a disastrous first day at the European Nations Cup in Spain with David Boote’s 76 the best round any of the four-man team could manage.

That left him eight shots off individual leader Reeve Whitson of Ireland while Wales found themselves last but one of the 17 countries competing.

Only Finland had a worse start to the tournament at Sotogrande, which was in stark contrast to that of the Irish quartet who stormed into a five-stroke lead after their three best scores were collated.

For Wales, Pennard’s James Frazer and Newport’s Joe Vickery shot 80 while USA-based Jason Shufflebotham could do no better than 81, leaving them with a huge mountain to climb.

Going into today’s second round, the Irish led from Denmark, who in turn held a six-shot advantage over France with reigning champions England down in joint eighth alongside Austria, Italy and Norway.

The host country led the women’s event, tied on 149 with Germany and one stroke in front of Slovenia.

In the individual standings, France’s Celine Boutier and Germany’s Ann-Kathrin Lindner shared the lead after both carded rounds of 73.