Valentine leads way
He joined forces with Timon Sitte and Andrew Minto to card 67, two shots fewer than the second-placed team comprising Gullane professional Alastair Good, one of his members, Colin Sinclair and Frenchman Patrice Raffenbech.
An all-Scottish trio of St Andrews New clubmates Ewan Glen and Alasdair McLeish and Hamish Steadman, of Royal Burgess, finished third on 72.
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Hide AdAustralian professional Perry Somers, who was in the fourth-placed team along with Beth Freedman (Musselburgh) and Evlyn Raistrick (Kilspindie) leads the individual championship after the opening round, firing a seven-over par 78