Galway’s Ronan Mullarney pieced together a very tidy three-under-par on day one of the HotelPlanner Tour’s Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge in France and he sits just three strokes back from the lead heading into Friday’s second round.
The grey, gloomy skies around Golf PGA France du Vaudreuil didn’t stop the 30-year-old from getting off to a quick start as Mullarney made birdie at the par-4 first, before adding another at the par-5 eighth to take the turn at two-under.
Mullarney would go on to make three more birdies on the back nine but there will be some level of disappointment regarding Mullarney’s first round as a five-under-par round was very possible in hindsight.
Mullarney made two errors on the back nine, with the first one coming at the par-5 12th as he made a six. Another bogey came at the par-4 17th but it was at the 18th where Mullarney showed his grit, bouncing back with a birdie. A first round 69 sees Mullarney well in contention for a competitive weekend.
There is a trio of tricolour representatives tied for 69th as Liam Nolan, Conor Purcell, and Max Kennedy each posted a one-over-par 73. It was a topsy_turvy round for Purcell as he made six bogeys and five birdies.
Kilkenny’s Mark Power sits just behind his fellow countrymen at two-over-par. Teeing off in the morning, Power made five bogeys and three birdies in the blustery conditions.
It was a day to forget for James Sugrue as the 29-year-old posted a seven-over-par 79 to see him near the foot of the leaderboard. Two double bogeys on the front nine proved to be very costly for the man from Mallow.
Three players sit tied for the lead as Germany’s Alexander Knappe, South Africa’s Martin Vorster, and Denmark’s Hamish Brown all posted a six-under-par 66.
Knappe posted one of just four bogey-free rounds and the German was happy to be sitting pretty at the top, considering he has fond memories of this course.
“I found it really nice, the course improves every year,” he said. “I’ve been coming here for a few years, the last time was in 2022. They’ve made a few changes and it’s really enjoyable to play here.
Denmark’s Brown, who sits eighth in the Road to Mallorca standings, was the first to post six-under as he had an early run of birdies – making four in a row on the front nine before closing out with an eagle at the par-5 18th.
“I need to keep doing what I’m doing. I don’t think about the Road to Mallorca too much, I just keep plugging away, tick my boxes and do what I need to do and we’ll see where we end up on Sunday each week. Someone has to win it so at some point it’s probably going to happen if I keep doing what I’m doing, but time will tell,” said the Dane.
South Africa’s Vorster played the par-4s five-under-par and also made eagle at the par-5 eighth to see himself in unchartered territories at the top.
“I only have four more guaranteed starts including this week through the Sunshine Tour, so my goal for this season is to get a full HotelPlanner Tour card for next year,” said Vorster.
Germany’s Jan Schneider holds fourth place at five-under, followed by a five-way tie for fifth at four-under.
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