The BlotPay9 has started in Brittany, France. It began with Max Kennedy (-10) putting the pedal to the metal. The 23-year-old Irishman delivered a card of 60 strokes to start leading the HotelPlanner Tour event. It’s not just any round. It’s the record at Golf Bluegreen de Pléneuf Val André.
Starting on the 10th hole signalled the hurricane that was to come with a perfect sequence of birdie-eagle-birdie. To this brilliant start, he added more successes on the 15th and 18th to complete his first nine holes with 29 strokes.
Kennedy maintained the pace in his second half with birdies on holes 1 and 5, and signed another eagle on the par-five 7th hole. With that performance, he was in “59 mode,” needing just one birdie in the last two holes to reach that magical number. He didn’t achieve it, but a brilliant recovery on the 9th hole, his last of the day, allowed him to finish without bogeys and with a flawless card.
The Irishman arrived in Brittany after his best result of the season, an eleventh place in the Raiffeisenbank Golf Challenge. Additionally, he has confessed that the course perfectly suits his strategic style of play, something that was demonstrated in his impressive initial performance.
The best Spaniard at the start has been Santi Tarrío (-2). With a card of 68 strokes, he is on the verge of the top ten. The leader is eight strokes ahead, but it’s not expected that he will play ten less each day. Only two stumbles at the start and end of the round slightly marred his round. On the 1st and 18th. In between, four birdies. The Spaniard is among the top twenty of the year and wants to extend his good form.
Luis Masaveu (-1) played his first round after leaving LIV Golf. He delivered a card of 69 strokes. As he told TenGolf, he sees the event as “just another tournament, it’s true that I have to make the most of these weeks, because I’m not going to play many tournaments on the circuit, this is just my second, and my goal is to secure the DP World Tour card.” Tournaments aren’t won on the first day, and the Madrilenian has started with an interesting performance.
Luis’s result is even more commendable considering he suffered a painful setback on the 4th hole. Triple bogey and +3 on the partial. He needed to recover, and he did it brilliantly. Alongside him on the leaderboard is Sebas García (-1).
On the contrary, Rocco Repetto Taylor (PAR) went from more to less. The Andalusian finished his first round with a total of four under par thanks to as many birdies. However, the second half, the first of the Breton course, proved challenging, and with four bogeys, he fell back to even par. Lucas Vacarisas also started at even par. Among the other Spaniards, Borja Virto (+1) stands out, who with one over par would also be within the provisional cut, and the young Alps Tour winner, Javier Calles (+2), who signed 72 strokes.
Víctor García Broto (+3), Joseba Torres (+4), and Javi Sainz (+6) will need to rally to play the weekend in Brittany. Juan Salama needs a miracle after closing a painful round of 85 strokes.
