Liam Nolan and Ronan Mullarney lead the way for the Irish as Germany’s Christian Braeunig fired an eight-under-par round of 61 to set the pace after round one of the HotelPlanner Tour’s Interwetten Open.
The Galway duo share 43rd on two-under after matching rounds of 67 but are just three shots outside the top 10 on the heavily bunched leaderboard.
Mullarney got off to the perfect start when he holed his second shot for an eagle on the par-4 opener but made the turn at level-par after dropping two shots on the way out. Three birdies and just one bogey on the back side got him in at -2, and he was joined shortly after by Nolan who birdied two of his final three holes as he came home in 31 after starting on the 10th.
James Sugrue and John Ross Galbraith are also in red figures after matching 68s that leave them tied for 72nd, while Gary Hurley is a shot further back at level-par and Max Kennedy has an additional stroke to make up as the only one of the six Irish over-par at +1.
Braeunig, starting on the 10th, opened his round with back-to-back birdies before making five consecutively around the turn and capping off the perfect start with a final gain on his last hole.
The German’s fine opening round means he leads South African Louis Albertse by one on a low scoring first day.
“To be honest I didn’t really expect that much because it was really cold in the morning and I didn’t feel great because I didn’t sleep well yesterday,” Braeunig said.
“I had a bit of a tough start to the season because I didn’t play for half a year and then a tough start in Italy.
“But ever since then my game feels like it’s getting better every week.”
It was a day marked by constantly changing weather conditions, but the 33-year-old managed to capitalise on the chances he created.
The German was absent for the opening swing of the season before missing his two opening cuts in Italy and Denmark, but he said he’s noticed a change in form with cuts made at the Challenge de España and Swiss Challenge prior to this week.
“I think I’m starting to find my form,” he added. “I didn’t try to change anything even though the scores weren’t really there, I tried to keep going and keep doing what I’ve been doing and try to find some confidence and it’s working well.”
Braeunig played the 2025 season on the Pro Golf Tour, an Official Satellite circuit of the HotelPlanner Tour, and earned his spot on the Road to Mallorca by winning the final event of the season, having almost walked away from the game.
“It was pretty crazy because I was kind of thinking about quitting as well and then I won the final event and I was like okay, got to keep playing one more year,” he said.
“I’ve just got to try and enjoy it as much as I can and we will see what it leads to.”
England’s Jack Hawksby, Spain’s Joel Moscatel, and Christian Jacobsen from Denmark are tied third at six under par, ahead of a group of six players on five under.
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