A dark, gloomy Friday at the Estonian Golf & Country Club in Talinn meant a day of interruptions as wind and lightning circled throughout, leading to a cease of play in the late afternoon before recommencing only for it to be halted yet again.
With some golfers set to return 8:00am local time Saturday morning to complete their last few holes, some of the Irish in the field weren’t phased by the choppy conditions.
Liam Nolan is among those who will have to return to complete his second round, but thankfully for him it is just the one hole – the ninth. Nolan began his Friday round on the back nine, making bogey at the 11th before making making three birdies in four holes between the 12th and 15th. Nolan made another bogey at the par-5 18th.
Although a sore one on the 18th, Nolan quickly put that behind him as he took on the front nine and the birdies were coming quick and fast. The 26-year-old made birdie at the second, fifth, and sixth to see him get to four-under-par.
With one hole left to play on Saturday morning, Nolan currently sits T20 at six-under. His strong second round seen him climb 33 places. Nolan has been having a good season, sitting 30th in the HotelPlanner Tour rankings.
Fellow Galway man Ronan Mullarney made use of an earlier start as he posted a bogey free two-under-par round to take his total tally to six-under to share T20 with Nolan. Mullarney’s golf was uneventful but effective as he kept mistakes at a minimum, making birdie at the par-4 ninth and 12th.
Kilkenny’s Mark Power posted a 69 to take him into the weekend as he sits two back from Nolan and Mullarney at four-under. Power was circling around the two-under-par cutline until late two birdies at the 16th and 18th gave him some breathing room.
Gary Hurley and James Sugrue have five and six holes to play respectively on Saturday morning to determine whether or not they will compete this weekend. Hurley sits on the cutline at two-under, while Sugrue sits one back at one-under.
Conor Purcell, and Max Kennedy failed to make the cut. Purcell will no doubt be kicking himself after posting five-under in the first round but suffered a front nine disaster in the second round.
Purcell made five bogeys on the front nine on Friday, undoing all of his good work in the first round. Frustrations really shown at the last as he made double to finish his day six-over-par, bowing out with a final score of one-over.
Germany’s Marc Hammer backed up his 64 on Thursday with a 68 on Friday as he retained his lead into the weekend. The 27-year-old leads the field by one stroke at 12-under.
England’s Barclay Brown posted the round of the day as he made six birdies and an eagle on his way to posting a bogey free eight-under-par 64. Brown’s flawless Friday round sees him just one off the lead at 11-under.
There is a three-way tie for third heading into the weekend as Lorenzo Scalise, John Gough, and Andrew Wilson all sit at 10-under.
Wilson does have a chance to take a lead into the third round as he has three holes left to play but one can imagine that the hault of play was the last thing the 32-year-old Englishman would’ve wanted, as he was just coming off of three birdies in a row.
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