D+D Real Czech Challenge

Named after the king himself, Palmer Jackson is loving life on the HotelPlanner Tour. We recap the first half of his maiden European campaign and look ahead to what the future holds for the American. Meanwhile, David Law takes a massive step towards returning to the DP world tour, by winning the D+D Real Czech Challenge.

Heat. Heat. What a way to win your first Hotel Planet Tour title. A final round of 64 and a sixshot win in a dominating display in the Czech Republic. Four weeks on from that moment and the hotel plan was back in central Europe for the DND Royale Czech Challenge. Located 30 minutes from the center of Prague, Royal Baroon Golf Club was on hosting duties for the second year running. The Par 70 layout plays just under 6,000 m with scoring opportunities around every corner as shown by the winning score last season. A little over 12 months ago, Benjamin Flet Smith romped to victory on 28 under par. And making a return to the country in which he won his maiden professional title is American Palmer Jackson. I got a lucky name. My my dad grew up playing baseball, but he loved golfing through college. And I’m from 40 minutes from where Arnold Palmer grew up. And Arnold Palmer was my dad’s favorite player. And he suggested the name to my mom. And she said, “Okay, I like it. It’s unique.” So, they ran with it. And I guess I’m pretty lucky. I played uh baseball, basketball, and golf growing up. And I would say golf was my favorite from a young age. And very quickly I realized that I enjoyed being on the golf course the most. From the time I was playing with plastic clubs and and foam golf balls to going out on my own to driving myself through the course, it’s always been a love of mine. Jackson pursued his great love all the way to college. A stent at NRAAM helped him to realize what his future potential could be. Once I had some early success in college, I realized that, you know, I was one of the better players and I played in a couple PGA Tour events during college and realized that those guys aren’t super human. They’re not crazy. They’re just really good at what they do because they’ve done it for a long time and they know what works for them. And I I think probably once I got to my junior year of college, I knew it was going to be reality. Whereas before it was just a belief. Self-belief alone isn’t enough to make these step up. Jackson had a clear plan in place to guarantee he would have professional playing privileges. He just wasn’t sure which side of the Atlantic it would happen. I wanted to give myself the best most opportunities I could out of college. And through advice from a lot of people that I trusted, they said, “You got to play both Q schools. You got to play US Q school and you got to play Europe.” And fortunately, um, I had people backing me financially so that I was able to do that. And I got through, uh, final stage here. I I made the cut. So, I got full challenge tour, hotel planner tour status, and I missed the second stage in the US. So, at that point, it was a no-brainer coming to Europe this year. Applying his trade across Europe and beyond has been a new experience for Jackson, but one that he’s certainly relished. Every week’s a little different. Most have been pretty doable. When we went to South Africa and the other side of the road, that was a bit of a challenge, but got used to it. But yeah, seeing the the road signs and the speed limit in kilometers per hour is definitely a little different. Trying to gauge what that is in miles per hour, but generally, you know, European drivers are probably a little better than Americans, so we’ll take it. But one thing I’m not good at is parallel parking. And that has caused me some problems in Europe. I try to find a spot where there’s two spots consecutively available because otherwise I’m just going to hold up traffic for a while. It’s a different story on the course though. It’s been rare to see Jackson put a foot wrong. His play has been exemplary, culminating in his win at the Cascada Resort a month ago. It was weeks of just grinding each day and trying to understand what was going on with my game because I I very much believe that my good is is good. After Spain in Kadis, I I missed the cut. I didn’t like where my game was at. So, I kind of did some deeper thinking and my caddy helped me understand some things and I I found some technical things that were a little off in my game. So, I knew it was only a matter of time before something good happened. And I had a call with our assistant coach uh that I had at Notre Dame and he just kind of woke me up a little bit and he’s like, “You you’re better than this and you know, you’re a winner. Like whenever your game is good, Palmer, you’re you’re going to be at the top.” And I was like, “You know what? Maybe he’s right.” And I just kind of believed that if my game was good and I was in contention that that I would win. And fortunately, that’s how it worked out. It was an emotional victory made even more special considering he was playing for someone other than himself. My mom had been struggling at home with with some health stuff for since Q school in the fall and she asked me if I could win a tournament for her and I said I will. And at that point I was only going to play four events in that stretch and that was the last one. And it’s just crazy how how things work out if they’re supposed to. Palmer is well on track to claim one of the 20 cards on offer for the DP World Tour at the end of the season. Heading into this event, he was in 18th place on the Road to Morca rankings. Though his thought process is a little different, I don’t do well with big goals. I do well with like smaller process goals. And there’s certain things in my game and my process that I’m trying to work on right now. Would I like to be number one on the points list by the end of the year? Absolutely. I want to get a DP World Tour card 100%. But I don’t do well when I think just abstractly about those things. So, I’ve got to channel my mind into what I need to do this week. And what I found for me is just trying to find a way to beat golf courses and find a way to get in contention and and win is best for me week and and week out. Sometimes my game won’t be there. Most times it probably won’t be there, but when it is, I want to make sure I have the mentality that, you know, I’m here to I’m here to compete and and if I do those little things right, then the big picture things will take care of themselves. And with that mindset front and center, Jackson set off on Thursday morning targeting the Czech double. He got his tournament underway on the 10th and it didn’t take long for him to get the scoreboard ticking. This T-shot at the par 3 11th setting up his first birdie of the day. It wasn’t all plain sailing though. An errant T-shot led to a bogey at the 13th hole as he dropped back to level par. He was back on track soon enough though with this approach to the path 515th hole. A fivewood to 3 ft. Jackson duly obliged with the eagle putt as well. The American showing flashes of brilliance, but it wasn’t always rewarded. He could have hauled out for eagle here on the 16th, but denied by the flag, he then missed the birdie putt and had to settle for par. Having turned in two underpar, another birdie followed on the first, his 10th hole. However, the red numbers would dry up from there. Eight pars followed as he coasted home, signing for a three under par 67. I think on day one, you can lose the tournament, but you can’t win it. Am I pleased with 67? No. But at the same time, it’s still a solid round. Playing alongside Jackson was Clemon Sharmas. The Frenchman bested his playing partner by three shots. Charason ended the day on six under and just two off the pace set by Danny List and Albert Betta. If Thursday had been a frustrating affair for Jackson, he did at least have plenty of time to regroup ahead of his second round. And on the tea, Mr. Palmer Jackson USA. A much later start for the American. Tempass won off the first hole on Friday afternoon. It appeared as if he was on course for a better showing after a two- putt birdie on the par five second hole. He followed that up with a fine T-OT on the fourth. The early signs promising, providing the flat stick continued to behave itself. It seemed to be another one dropped in on the fifth as he moved effortlessly to three under par. A bokeogi on the seventh was only a brief setback. He bounced back immediately with this monster putt on the eighth. He turned in three under for the day. Six under in total. He must have had his eyes set on a low one. However, once again, the bird is dried up. His inward stretch was similar to the previous day. Delightful approaches, but a putter that turned ice cold. Opportunities came and went. Bogey at 15 would be cancelled out at the very next hole. Jackson par his way home then signing for a second consecutive 67. Some good, some frustrating. The front nine was nice to turn in three under. I felt like, you know, made some good putts and and birdied one of the tough par threes, so I was pleased with that. And then the back n just kind of stalled a little bit. Didn’t do anything overly poor. Um just a few kind of weird mistakes and it’ll happen. Jackson ensured he’d be around for the weekend and eight shots off the pace, certainly not out of it. Albert Boneta, meanwhile, had seized top spot. The Spaniard backed up his opening 62 with a 64 to hold a one-shot advantage at the midway mark. Still to come, a look at the role of honor, revealing past winners of the DND Royale Check Challenge, and we see who added their name to that list at the 2025 edition. All coming up after the break. Welcome back to the Hotel Planetour and our second visit to Czecha in the space of a few weeks. Low scores are normally the order of the day at the DND Royale Czech Challenge and this event was no different. Halfway through it was Albert Banetta who led the way a shot clear of Danny List and Jonathan Goat Rasmuson. But would the leading man be able to hold on to that advantage with the chasing pack breathing down his neck? The main moving day action described for you by Kit Alexander. Palmer Jackson had his best round of the week on Saturday. Seven birdies in a 64 that saw him climb into tied 20th with 18 holes to go. Albert Banetta finished seventh here after receiving a late invite and he was enjoying his week once again. His T-shot at the par for third found the greenside bunker and this excellent shot set up a birdie that moved him two strokes clear. David Lur is ninth on the road to Morca. Remarkably, he was three over par through eight holes on Thursday with a 62 on Friday and he continued that brilliant momentum on Saturday. That second shot at 18, set up an eagle putt. He wouldn’t convert, but the birdie would give him another 62 and he was banging contention with 18 holes to go. The weather took a turn for the worse. The rain came down, the brolies came out, but Danny List wasn’t letting it affect him. He was three under for the day through 15 holes. He judged his spin really well with the moisture on the greens to set up this chance at 16. Boneta turning three under but made a double bogey on 12 to surrender the lead. He fought back well with two birdies to tie and this birdie at 16 gave him the outright lead albeit temporarily though as list his Australian playing partner followed him in. So they were tied at the top with a couple of holes to go. Listster just made a bogey on 17. He was one behind again and he had this aggressive shot into the par five finisher. List missed his eagle. But a straightforward birdie and in comparison to Banetta’s par that means they are again tied again at 17 under after 54 holes. It was starting to look like a two-h horsese race in Czecha where List and Boneta had opened up a two-shot lead over the rest. But with the likes of rankings leader Renato Paroreé lurking in the pack, nothing could be taken for granted. Since 2012, the DND Royale Czech challenge has been a regular fixture on the hotel Planetour schedule. The inaugural edition was won by Denmark’s Andreas Harauo, his third title on the Hotel Planetour. Julian Shuri became the first non-European to lift the trophy when he triumphed in 2017. That kickstarted his career as the American won on the DP World Tour later that year in Denmark. Ross McGawan finished runner up in 2015 and went one better in 2019 with a four-stroke win at Golf and Spa Konetica Horror. Santiago Tario and Nikolai Christensen won in playoffs in 2021 and 22 respectively. Andrea Pavan emerged victorious in 2023 on route to promotion to the DP World Tour. Last year, Benjamin Flet Smith romped to a five-stroke victory on a staggering 28 under par. But what of the 2025 edition? With two tied at the top, would either Banetta or List add their names to that role of honor, or could somebody challenge from further back? Let’s rejoin Kit to find out. Last week’s winner, Max Steinchner, began the day tied 26th, but he started with five birdies in a row to go out in 28, and that got him into a tie for the lead. gave himself another opportunity to pick up a shot here at the 10th, but he would miss the birdie putt and drop a shot at 11. It was a solid start to the day for Danny List. Four straight pars then birdies on five and seven. He fired this beauty into the par three ninth and would make the birdie to go one clear at the top. Albert Benetta just couldn’t really get anything going with a couple of birdies and one bogey on the front nine will be a par here at 10, but he needed more with other players picking up shots and moving past him. Steinckler the road to Morca number three eagled 13 and birdied 15. This was his eagle effort at the final hole, just shy of pace, but he would tap in for the closing birdie to shoot a spectacular 61 and post the clubhouse target at 20 under par. Could that be enough for back-to- back victories? Well, Danny List and the others still had plenty of holes to go. And he used the slopes wonderfully here. Feeding the ball into that front pin. The tap in for birdie moved him into the outright lead on minus 21. David Law had an eagle and three birdies to this point. like list, he took advantage of some slopes and this shot just kept getting better and better. He couldn’t hold that for Eagle, but the birdie combined with a list bogey on 14 gave him the outright lead. The Scotsman made a par at 16 and he had this long birdie effort at the penultimate hole. It hits squarely in the center of the flag stick. Somehow didn’t drop. That would have been for a two-shot advantage. Ryan Lumsden had quietly gone about his business on Sunday. Two under at the turn and three birdies in a row from 13 got him right in the mix. This was for Birdie at the last to Ty Law. It would just be a par. So he finished on minus 20 with Stein Lechner, Jack Floyd and Victor Seidal Spencson. Danny List was one behind Law. Had to make something happen and he went for it on 18. Fortunately, his ball would find the water and he would make a bogey to shoot a 68 and finish minus 19. It had been a pedestrian day for Boneta. He was right where he started, still at minus 17 as he played the final hole. The win had gone, but still plenty of valuable ranking points up for grabs. And that was an excellent approach. With the others stuck on minus 20, L knew a par at the last would be enough to secure the trophy. But he went one better with a birdie to complete a brilliant 63, ending on 22 under par. What a performance. Disappointing day for Baneta. Finished on a high as he converted the eagle putt to salvage a tied sixth finish. His second top six of the season. Yes, it wasn’t the final round the Spaniard or Australian wanted. The joint 54 hole leaders finishing tied sixth at 19 under. Instead, Lore laid down unbeatable weekend rounds of 62 and 63, clinching her first title in six years. you know, I’ve not won a golf tournament since uh sorry since 2019. Um you know, so it’s it’s hard. Um sorry. Um I’ve been a little up and down all year. You know, I’ve had some, you know, few top 10s, a runner up, and then I’ve missed quite a few cuts as well, but I’ve had big weeks, and you know, obviously out here to finish in the top 20, you need to do that. Um so it’s been Yeah, it’s been good. There’s been plenty of movement on the road to Morca rankings, courtesy of his runner-up finish. Max Steinchner has now vaulted to the top of the pile. David Law, meanwhile, up to third spot. Fellow Scott Dan Young slips out of the top 10, while Clemont Shamasaw is up two places to 12th. Our featured player this week, Palmer Jackson, remains in the top 20, slipping to 19th spot. So, David Law ruled the roost to bring down the curtain on our time in Czecha. Up next, the 2025 contenders head west for the German challenge powered by VCG. So, join us next time when the pursuit of promotion to the DP World Tour continues.