Calum Hill, Niklas Lemke and Ricardo Santos share the lead at the halfway stage of the Monaghan Irish Challenge at Concra Wood Golf Club.
The trio are tied on seven under par and hold a one stroke advantage over Matt Ford after the second round in Castleblayney.
Hill, who won his first European Challenge Tour title at the Galgorm Resort & Spa Northern Ireland Open, presented by Modest! Golf in August, carded a round of 69, three under par, including seven birdies and four bogeys to add to his opening round of 68.
Lemke shot a five under par round of 67 to tie the low round of the day, while Santos followed his opening round of 67 with a round of 69, two under par, to join the Swede as the early leaders on Day Two.
With a win to his name already this season, Hill was pleased to card a strong back nine to join the early pacesetters on seven under par.
“It was a good round,” he said. “My short game got me through it for two thirds of the round and then I put some nice shots together at the end, which was good.
“The conditions were milder. There wasn’t any drizzle and the wind wasn’t as gusty, so the course probably played a fraction easier but this is a tough course. When we played a practice round – me and a couple of pals – we felt it was a very tough course, so I’m very happy with seven under after two rounds.
“14 under par would be a very nice target over the weekend, but I don't know where that would put me. I can't complain with how it's going so far, so another two rounds like that would be fine.”
Lemke is targeting another good week on the Challenge Tour after a tied 28thresult in France two weeks ago and a share of 33rdin Kazakhstan a week earlier. Following his opening two rounds, the 34 year old feels his game is going in the right direction.
“It was good, and my game was pretty solid from the start,” he said. “It has been pretty good lately and I made some putts today, which was nice.
“The conditions were really nice in the beginning of the round, then after ten holes the wind picked up. It was good to have control over the golf ball today. The game has been pretty good over the last few months, but I haven’t been able to make the putts, but today I found a few.”
Englishman Ford is one shot behind the trio after his two under par round of 69, while there is a chasing pack of Robert MacIntyre, Christopher Mivis and Oliver Wilson on five under par – two shots off the leaders.
Overnight leader Rhys Enoch fell away after a disappointing round of 76, four over par. However, Irishman Paul McBride remains in contention, three shots behind the leaders, with compatriot Ruaidhri McGee a further stroke behind following his five under par round of 67.
