Max Kennedy will be the sole Irish representative at the weekend in the HotelPlanner Tour’s Raiffeisenbank Golf Challenge at Kaskáda Golf Resort in the Czech Republic, and he’s just a shot outside the top 10.
The Royal Dublin rookie pro kept it clean and tidy on day two after a two-under opening round that promised to be several better.
Two birdies on the outward nine were followed by three more on the way home, with the only blot on his copybook coming on the par-4 12th. His response to the dropped shot was impressive as the three birdies followed in a four-hole stretch, including a back-to-back brace on 13 and 14.
He goes into the final two rounds in a share of 12th place, one shot outside the top 10 and just four from the lead.
That’s held by the quartet of England’s Joshua Berry, Welshman Stuart Manley, Spaniard Sebastian Garcia and American Palmer Jackson on -10 for the week.
On his way to a bogey-free, seven-under 64, Berry birdied the third, fourth and seventh before making three consecutive gains around the turn. A further birdie on the par five 15th and three closing pars moved the 19-year-old into a share of the lead.
“It was nice to get out early this morning and post a number,” he said. “I played really nicely off the tee and gave myself a lot of chances.”
Berry, who will cement his position inside the top five of the Road to Mallorca Rankings with victory, is looking to lean on his maiden HotelPlanner Tour win, which came at the Kolkata Challenge back in March.
“It helps being able to draw off past memories, but I am just going to go play the same golf and hopefully post two good scores,” he added.
Manley heads into moving day alongside Berry on ten under par after signing for a five under par 66 on day two. The 46-year-old tasted victory as recently as 2023 on the HotelPlanner Tour and is eyeing a fifth career win this weekend.
“The game seems to be trending in the right direction,” he said. “The results haven’t been there, but I feel like I am playing better.
“I kept the ball in play nicely and I was pretty much always in the fairway, and I putted very nicely.”
Garcia, who was among the early starters on Friday, produced a flurry of birdies around the turn and dropped just one shot to move himself into contention heading into the weekend.
“I played very well but the putter was a little bit cold,” he said.
“I made a nice birdie on eight and that really got my round going. Overall, I played very well today.”
Jackson got off to a fast start on Friday after recording four front nine birdies. The 24-year-old dropped two shots on his back nine before chipping in on his closing hole to move into a tie at the top.
“It was nice to chip that in and leave feeling good about the round because it was getting pretty tiring on the second nine,” he said.
“I thought it was a good challenge again. There are birdies there you just have to hit good shots.”
Hong Kong’s Matthew Cheng is one shot back on nine under par, one stroke clear of Italian Renato Paratore, Slovakian Tadeas Tetak, Swede Tobias Jonsson and American Nick Carlson.
Unfortunately, Jonathan Caldwell, Mark Power and John Murphy won’t be joining Kennedy in the weekend field after finishing 84th, 104th, and 119th respectively.
Kennedy will tee off in the fifth-to-last group as he goes in search of a first top-10 on the DP World Tour’s official feeder tour, and maybe even a maiden professional victory.
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