Mateusz Gradecki and Craig Howie share a one-stroke lead after 36 holes of the Range Servant Challenge by Hinton Golf at Hinton Golf Club.
The Pole and the Scot both added six under par rounds of 66 to their opening rounds of 65 to reach 13 under par, with Sweden’s Anton Karlsson their nearest challenger a single shot back on 12 under par after he posted the low round of the day, a seven under par 65.
Gradecki is yet to card a bogey this week and after finishing with back-to-back birdies he is well-placed to mount a title challenge over the weekend.
“I played very similar to yesterday, probably better tee to green,” he said. “It was actually one of the most solid rounds of golf I’ve ever played. I missed two very short putts for another two birdies, but I’m very pleased.
“I feel pretty comfortable with every part of my game at the moment. Putting has always been the strongest part of my game and recently my driving has been very good and my approaches are getting better, so I feel comfortable hitting at different pins.
“I think it suits my game. I’m pretty accurate off the tee and when I’m on the fairway here I have a lot of wedges and a lot of opportunities so I can hit at different pins and attack the golf course. That’s my strategy and I look forward to continue doing it.”
Scotland’s Howie dropped only a single shot during his second round and, despite posting a round of 66, was disappointed to miss out on further scoring opportunities on the par fives.
“I’m playing really nicely, so there are a lot of positives,” he said. “I maybe left a couple of shots out there; I played the par fives quite poorly, so there is that little bit of frustration that I could’ve gone really low, but anytime you shoot 66, you can’t really be too fussed.
“I think the golf course suits me. I like to fade it off the tee and there are a lot of fade holes. If you can drive it well then there’s so many chances out there. You’re not going to hole every putt so you’ve just got to stay patient and I think I’ve done that really well.”
Six players share fourth place on ten under par, including Swedish duo Christofer Blomstrand and Jens Dantorp, Frenchman Edouard Dubois, Spain’s Mario Galiano Aguilar, Dodge Kemmer, from the USA. and Australia’s Blake Windred.
There were 61 players who made the cut, which fell at five under par, and the third round of the Range Servant Challenge by Hinton Golf will begin at 9:00am local time on Saturday May 15.
