Joshua Berry (-11) opens his account as a professional in Kolkata. The Englishman has won the Kalkota Challenge and secured his first victory at just 19 years old. He did it with much agony on the second playoff hole.
Despite his young age, Berry is playing his second season on the DP World Tour. However, having obtained his rights through the School and not having access to all tournaments, he is balancing his schedule with some events on the HotelPlanner Tour. It doesn’t seem to have been a bad decision. He already knows what it’s like to win.
This Sunday, he faced a trial by fire in Kolkata. He started as the leader and had to withstand the attacks if he wanted to be the champion. The playing conditions were very challenging, playing at the Royal Kolkata Golf Club was very difficult. In fact, barely twenty of the sixty players in contention managed to play under par. The task was even more epic for Berry, who indeed experienced the day’s difficulty firsthand. From ten under par just 48 hours ago, a course record, to handing in a card of 73 strokes on the day when everything was at stake.
After 18 very tight holes, four players would contest the tournament in the playoff. Andreas Halvorsen, Om Prakash Chouhan, Lukas Nemecz (-11), and Berry himself. The reality is that the Austrian Nemecz had victory in his hand, but a bogey on the 72nd hole opened the door to the other three contenders. There, Berry was the best. The only one capable of making a birdie on the second playoff hole, securing his first major victory.
As for the Armada, Albert Boneta (-7) started this Sunday seventh, four strokes off the lead, with a chance to dream of victory. It wasn’t to be. A round of 73 strokes with bogeys on the last two holes weighed down the Catalan’s finish, dropping him from sixth place to fourteenth in just a few minutes. A good haul that slipped away.
Nonetheless, Boneta continues to demonstrate in his first full season in professional golf that he has a lot of skill to compete with the best, achieving his second top 15 of the season on the tour.
The rest of the Spaniards didn’t have the weekend they hoped for. Adri Arnaus (-3) finished in 29th place, and Santi Tarrio and Quim Vidal (-2) were 37th. Things went worse for Lucas Vacarisas, who finished the event at par.
Next week, the HotelPlanner Tour continues its tour of India with the Delhi Challenge.
