Varanyu Rattanaphiboonkij, no stranger to success on the Asian Development Tour, put himself in pole position for a third Tour title after the opening round of $125,000 Morocco Rising Stars Marrakech, the first of the two Moroccan events being played at the Samanah Golf Club.

The 28-year-old Thai star won the Combiphar Players Championship in 2018, and then went low in all three rounds at the 2022 Aramco Invitational. On Thursday, he once again showed his penchant for making birdies in a bunch when he made nine in a bogey-free round of nine-under par 63, matching the course record at the Jack Nicklaus-designed Samanah Golf Club.

Canadian Stephen Ames also shot a 63 during the 2020 Morocco Champions, an event on the Champions Tour.

Despite going low, Varanyu was ahead only by one shot, as exciting young Filipino star Aidric Chan made four birdies on both nines of the golf course to be just one behind the leader.

The English duo of Matt Killen and Finlay Mason, and Malaysia’s Shahriffuddin Ariffin were tied third at six-under 66.

Morocco’s Ayoub Lguirati, who finished tied fourth at last year’s Toyota Tour Championship, was best placed among the local stars in the field. Without dropping any shots, the 31-year-old finished on five-under 67, tied sixth with six other players.

Aldric Chan of the Philippines. Picture by Jason Butler/Asian Tour.

“Very happy with my round today. Never missed anything. I played well all the way until I finished. I just tried to keep it simple, tried to enjoy my game, enjoy the weather and just laughed a lot through the round,” said Varanyu, who started his round from the first and was five-under par at the turn with four straight birdies from the sixth to ninth holes.

“I like the golf course. It is a lot of fun. So, I am happy to match the course record in my first time playing in Morocco.

“My favourite hole on the golf course is the ninth (537-yard, par-5), because I think I have a chance of making an eagle there.”

Chan, who is fifth in the ADT Order of Merit after winning the Lexus Challenge earlier this year, started with a birdie and picked up shots on each of the four par-5s on the golf course.

“I played the course fairly steady in terms making birdies one at a time. Like I really did not try to force anything out there. Was very happy a lot of the putts kind of went in for me and even made a couple putts from off the green,” said Chan, who represented University of Arizona when in college.

“This golf course reminds me a bit about the courses we had in Arizona. The desert, the bunkers and definitely the greens, are like what we get in Arizona. The heat is very similar, too.”

Indonesia’s Peter Gunawan made his first hole-in-one in a competitive round when he aced the par-3 eighth hole, en route to a one-under par 71 effort.

“It was brutal and into the wind. It was playing about 178 yards. All I was thinking was, as long as I keep it left of the pin, the wind is going to push it back in. Hit a 5-iron, keep it about 30 feet left of the pin and see what happens,” said the 29-year-old Gunawan, who will be looking to make his first top-10 finish on the Asian Development Tour.

“I’m kind of blind, and I did not see it go in. My playing partner saw it and I was like, ‘Nah, it can’t be’. I went to the toilet, and when I came out, that was a happy little surprise.”

Apart from the winner’s cheque, the champion this week will almost be assured one of the two invitations up for grabs for the US$2 million International Series Morocco, which will be played from July 3-6. The two leading players from an aggregate money list from the two Morocco ADT events (not otherwise exempt) will earn the invitations.