Wakefield, Gee and Kim share first- round lead at small Saint-Omer Open

LUMBRES, France -- Adam Gee and Simon Wakefield are part of a three-way tie at the top of the leaderboard after Thursday’s opening round of the Saint-Omer Open.

The Englishmen joined Sihwan Kim on 4 under par with rounds of 67 in the small event co-sanctionecd by the European Tour and the second-tier European Challenge Tour.

Gee enjoyed back-to-back birdies on the final two holes, and then watched on as the others suffered late slips, Wakefield bogeying the 15th and 16th, and Kim dropping two shots amid three birdies on the back nine.

Gee is still getting over a lengthy hip injury, and his strong showing here has given him much encouragement.

"It's a good start," the 31-year-old said. "I had some good fortune today -- I hit the flag on the 17th and it went in, and on the 18th I hit a good shot from a bad lie and it ran up nicely to the hole.

"It's a quirky golf course and you get good breaks and bad breaks," he epxlained. "Sometimes good shots go badly and bad shots turn out well. I managed to get the most out of the good stuff today.

"Last year was very frustrating. I was either playing badly or I was injured. The cartilage between two bones in my hip was torn, so I had surgery to repair it," he added. "But everyone gets injured, that's just the way it goes. Luckily I had some great advice and good help from the right people and it's fine now."

Kim also admitted to some good luck along the way in his round.

"I missed in the right places," the 23-year-old said. "I wouldn't say I was hitting the ball terribly, but I certainly wasn't striping it. I got some lucky bounces here and there.

"I've been working hard on my putting. My speed has been a little off and my short putting has been horrendous in my last two or three events."

The three sit one shot clear of Raul Quiros, Darren Fichardt and Raymond Russell.