Max Kennedy started as he means to go on with an opening round of 69 at the HotelPlanner’s SDC Open as he looks to get an early foothold in his bid for promotion to the DP World Tour.
Kennedy mixed six birdies with three bogeys as he enjoyed an eventful round playing at altitude at Zebula Golf Estate & Spa and his three-under total leaves him in 22nd place, four shots off the early target set by South Africa’s Martin Vorster.
“I played really solid today, bit different to my usual no bogeys, I had three bogeys but was able to make six birdies so was quite happy with that and overall was able to play really well,” said the Royal Dublin star who missed out on last year’s Grand Final but did supplement his winter off-season with starts on the Asian Tour, MENA Tour and a near miss at LIV Promotions so he was sharp coming into this week’s season-opener.
“Driving and putting it well. If I could improve one thing it would be the short game, it was a little off and cost me three bogeys but apart from that it was very good so driving and putting was very good today.
“My game feels really good as good as it’s ever been. I had a nice off season and was able to get a lot of work done in terms of my swing and short game stuff so I was really comfortable out there and it showed with the score that I shot.”
Kennedy and his compatriot Liam Nolan both enjoyed encouraging debut seasons on the HotelPlanner Tour last year with Nolan bursting onto the scene with a third place finish here. However, both players saw their form drop towards the end of the season and four missed cuts on the bounce saw Kennedy miss out on a place in the Grand Final while Nolan ran out of steam in the promotion race.
Kennedy is hoping to peak at the right time this year and that will mean taking longer rest periods and resisting his own eagerness to play so often in a bid to maintain his performances towards the end of the season.
“I learned that it’s a long year, there is a lot to go through,” said the 24-year-old. “Even if you have one good result or bad result it doesn’t really matter you just have to keep getting better throughout the year and try to be at the top of your game at the end of the year. That’s one of the things I will do this year is take a couple more breaks, I played a lot last year and really prioritise the courses that suit me.”
The former Palmer Cup star is enjoying playing golf at altitude in Limpopo and he hopes to make the most of the four South African events before the spring break.
“It gives me a lot of momentum going into the year, there is a bit of a break after South Africa so in terms of starting off well in really good fields it can really boost your confidence going into Europe.”
While Kennedy looked sharp there were some signs of rust from his compatriots as Nolan and Gary Hurley settled for level-par rounds of 72.
Ronan Mullarney carded a 73 on his return to the HotelPlanner Tour following his promotion from the Alps Tour while Conor Purcell’s bid for an immediate return to the DP World Tour got off to a slow start with a three-over 75.
Scoring HERE
Leave a comment