Round one of the Hotelplanner Tour’s Italian Challenge Open began on Thursday with five Irish golfers teeing off in hopes for a competitive weekend to put their end of season objectives within sight.
25-year-old Liam Nolan is in search of promotion to the DP World Tour as the Galway man sits 32nd in the rankings. Nolan will need a string of good results if he is to be inside the top 20 after the Grand Final at the end of October.
With three events remaining before the Grand Final, Nolan got off to a strong start in Italy with a birdie on par-5 first.
Hoping the quick start would be a boost of confidence, Nolan failed to take advantage as he made back-to-back bogeys on the fourth and fifth holes before closing out the front nine with a birdie.
Heading into the back nine at even-par, Nolan made bogey on the par-3 17th to finish his day one-over-par in T90.
Also looking for a final push to get within promotion is 23-year-old Max Kennedy who sits two places behind Nolan in the rankings in 34th.
It was a slow day for Kennedy, but he showed glimpses of his class with three birdies but a costly triple-bogey on the par-4 fifth along with four more bogeys saw Kennedy end his day four-over-par in T124.
Fighting to retain their status on the Hotelplanner Tour and get within the top 100 are Northern Ireland’s Dermot McElroy and Jonathan Caldwell.
Sitting in 104th in the rankings, McElroy pieced together a solid round but will be kicking himself to see his score not to be lower than one-under-par.
McElroy made six birdies throughout the round, including a hot streak for the 32-year-old where he made three in four holes but ultimately it was the needless errors that saw him only post a one-under round.
A double on the fourth followed by a bogey on the fifth were quickly forgotten about after his hot streak but McElroy is bound to be disappointed with his double-bogey on the par-4 15th to see him end his day in 58th.
Down’s Jonathan Caldwell, who’s 138th in the rankings posted a respectable even-par round one.
Similar to McElroy, Caldwell could have easily posted a much lower round if the mistakes stayed away.
The 41-year-old made five birdies and five bogeys to see him head into round two in T58.
Making a late push for status next year after a good result whilst playing on an invite at the Irish Challenge is 26-year-old Robert Moran.
Moran currently sits 121st in the rankings and did well to overcome some mental pressure to get what began as a disastrous round back under control to give himself an outside chance by posting a two-over-par round one.
A triple and a double on the front nine could have easily spiraled the youngster but Moran kept his cool by adding some birdies to his card head into round two in 104th.
Netherlands’ Lars Van der Vight posted an impressive eight-under-par to see him take the lead after 18 holes as the 23-year-old was on fire on the back nine, making six birdies.
“It was pretty good,” he said. “Obviously I got off to a hot start and kept it going throughout the round.”
“I hit good shots, made the putts and that was about it. I hit pretty much every fairway, and I think that’s key around here.”
Van der Vight is playing on an invite in Italy this week but has all-but secured playing status on the HotelPlanner Tour for 2026 after enjoying an impressive campaign on the Pro Golf Tour.
“This week I’m doing the same as I always do. I’m just trying to find my feet out here and see what it’s like,” he added.
Round one was suspended due to darkness with some golfers failing to finish their 18 holes as they are set to complete their rounds at 8:50am local time Friday morning.
The second-round tee times remain unchanged and will begin at 7:50am local time.
Leaderboard
