Joshua Berry broke a 28-year course record at Royal Calcutta Golf Club to climb into a share of the lead alongside Om Prakash Chouhan at the halfway stage of the Kolkata Challenge.
Englishman Berry and Chouhan, from India, both reached ten under par for the week, and head into the weekend one stroke clear of Norwegian Andreas Halvorsen.
Berry, who opened his week with a level par 72 on day one, fired ten birdies without a bogey on day two to sign for a sensational ten under par 62 and add his name to the record books of the West Bengal club.
The 19-year-old, starting at the tenth, birdied his second hole of the day before recording four gains in a row from the 14th to climb the leaderboard.
The Englishman made four more birdies in a five-hole stretch from the first, before adding a closing birdie on the par four ninth to break the previous record set back in 1997.
Berry, who secured DP World Tour playing status at Qualifying School in 2023 as an amateur, then did so again as a professional in 2024, was delighted with the course record and to put himself in contention with 36 holes to play.
“It’s pretty special to have a course record at a golf club that’s been around for such a long time,” he said. “To shoot the best score in that time is great.
“It’s a nice reward for all the work I’ve put in. When you’re not playing your best, you’ve just got to keep grinding for days like today.
“To come out and shoot ten under today, I’m very pleased and I’m looking forward to the weekend.
“It excites me being in this position. It’s nice to come out and play well, especially on cut day. I’ll stay patient now and play my own game, prepare well, and see what happens.”
Chouhan, who shared the lead after round one, signed for a four under par 68 on day two to stay in front alongside Berry.
The 38-year-old teed it up on the DP World Tour last year after qualifying through the Professional Golf Tour of India’s (PGTI) Order of Merit, and is looking to secure a return to Golf’s Global Tour at the earliest opportunity.
Chouhan, who won on the HotelPlanner Tour in 2023 in the same year that he won at Royal Calcutta on the PGTI, says patience was key with four of his five birdies coming on his back nine.
“My performance was very good because I played well continuously today,” he said. “I had a lot of misses on the front nine with a lot of missed putts, but I had some good ones on the back nine.
“On this golf course patience is really important. I’m comfortable with the setup here as I’ve played here a lot of times and I have good memories.
“It was great playing on the DP World Tour last year and I’d like to get back there.”
Four players share fourth place on seven under par, including Austrian duo Lukas Nemecz and Maximilian Steinlechner, Australian Haydn Hopewell and Swede Per Längfors.
Home favourite Dhruv Sheoran is joined by John Axelsen from Denmark, Albanian Ilirian Zalli, Portuguese Tomas Gouveia and Daan Huizing from the Netherland’s one shot further back in eighth.
The third round of the Kolkata Challenge gets under way at 7:30am local time, with Berry teeing off alongside Chouhan and Halvorsen at 11:52am.
