Liam Nolan is within striking distance of the top at the halfway mark of the HotelPlanner Tour’s Danish Challenge, with John Murphy one further adrift at Odense Eventyr Golf.
A grandstand eagle-birdie finish vaulted the Galway man into a share of second alongside Kinsale’s Murphy at six-under at the end of round one and though neither could quite produce the low-scoring they found in the first 18 holes, they did enough to remain in touch.
Nolan birdied the third, fifth and eighth but dropped shots on four and nine to make the turn at one-under. Another birdie at the par-3 12th was immediately followed by a bogey on 13, but he closed out the round with his fifth birdie of the round and it saw him end the day tied for ninth and three off the lead.
Murphy also birdied the closing hole having traded two birdies and two bogeys over the previous 17 to share 16th on -7, one ahead of Mark Power who recovered from a horror back nine on Thursday to shoot a bogey-free 66 to spring back into contention at -6.
Power’s 66 wasn’t the low round of the day from an Irish perspective, however. That belonged to Dermot McElroy, making his first HotelPlanner Tour start of the season. The Ballymena man made nine birdies and two bogeys enroute to a 65 that lifted him from well outside the cut mark and into a tie for 47th at -4, with John Ross Galbraith’s 67 leaving him positioned between Power and McElroy.
Max Kennedy’s four-under 68 was enough to see him make the cut on the number at three-under, but Ronan Mullarney and Gary Hurley (level-par), Conor Purcell (+5), and James Sugrue (+9) all missed out.
Martin Simonsen, Lars van der Vight and Algot Kleen share the lead at 11-under. The trio were all part of the morning wave and were able to capitalise on calmer scoring conditions than round one’s high winds.
It was van der Vight who carded the low score of the leaders, a 65 that included six birdies and one eagle.
“It was good,” the Dutchman said. “It was a bit chilly this morning but I don’t mind the early start, there was hardly any wind.
“I just stayed patient, hit my spots, and the putter has been pretty good too which is nice.”
Martin Simonsen had the only blemish-free round of the leaders, a bogey-free six-under 66 backing up his opening 67.
“I played quite well all day, I had lots of chances,” the man from Denmark said. “I drove it much better today than yesterday which was a big key.
“Yesterday was brutal when we started off, I couldn’t believe it. I would definitely have taken this starting off yesterday.”
Algot Kleen, a regular member of the Nordic Golf League, got into the field this week through an invite. The Swede is aiming to capitalise on the chance he has created at this higher level.
“I got off to a slow start but then the first bogey woke me up and kick started my round, and then I managed to get some birdies.
“I will try and win this weekend. Just keep playing good and make a lot of birdies and see where we end up.”
One shot back of the leaders at -10 are the trio of Swede Adam Wallin, Spaniard Javier Barcos Garbayo, and Tapio Pulkkanen from Finland, who shot the round of the week so far, a nine-under-par 63.
A further shot back of them is Danish Jonathan Gøth-Rasmussen and Spaniard Juan Salama, with Swede Albin Tiden, German Jannik de Bruyn, French pair Clement Sordet and Clement Guichard, Norwegian Kristian Krogh Johannessen, and Jeppe Kristian Andersen from Denmark all alongside Nolan at -8.
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