2007 Qingdao

On his 42nd birthday, Chinese golf pioneer Zhang Lianwei shot an even par 72 on Friday to remain at 1-under for the tournament heading in to the weekend at the China Tour’s stop at Qingdao Huashan Golf Club. Zhang is the only golfer in the 99 person field to have emerged from the first two days of competition under par — the course’s long rough seems to be giving the players problems. Li Chao and Yang Wenzhang are in second place at 2-over.

Zhou Xun Shu, the man you are here to read about, finished Friday with a 4-over 76, putting him at 10-over for the tournament, and tied for 36th place. Were it not for a double bogey on 16 — it took him two attempts to get out of the rough — Zhou could have found himself nipping at the top 20.

Female golfer Dong Caihong shot a disappointing 11-over 83 on Friday and failed to advance to weekend play.

See all the scores here.

Zhou birdied two of the final three holes today to escape with a 6-over 78, placing him tied for 61st place after the first round of the 2007 China Tour‘s Qingdao Leg at Qingdao Huashan Golf Club. Also tied at 61st is local product Dong Caihong, the first woman to play on the China Tour. Complete Day 1 coverage here.

Zhou fired a disappointing 5-over 41 on the front nine. He was a perhaps a little rusty, only having played on a course once in the two week layoff between Qingdao and the 2007 season opener in Nanjing. Zhou was busy teaching as many lessons as possible at the driving range he works at in Chongqing — an effort to pad his wallet in anticipation of a long four week stretch away from home, and his paying job. After Qingdao, it’s straight to Beijing for a China Unicom tournament. Next up is the third leg of the China Tour in Guangzhou June 21-24.

In Nanjing, Zhou finished tied for 50th and earned RMB 4.850 ($634) — before tax — which covered about half of his costs associated with participating in the tournament.

Follow the Qingdao action with live scoring here. Zhou tees off Friday at 7 am.

Photo by Tommy Zhao.