Joshua Berry fired seven birdies to move into a four-way tie for the lead at the Raiffeisenbank Golf Challenge heading into the weekend at Golf Resort Kaskáda.
The Englishman signed for a bogey-free seven under 64 to join Welshman Stuart Manley, Spaniard Sebastian Garcia and American Palmer Jackson on ten under par for the week.
Berry birdied the third, fourth and seventh before making three consecutive gains around the turn. A further birdie on the par five 15th and three closing pars moved the 19-year-old into a share of the lead.
“It was nice to get out early this morning and post a number,” he said. “I played really nicely off the tee and gave myself a lot of chances.”
Berry, who will cement his position inside the top five of the Road to Mallorca Rankings with victory, is looking to lean on his maiden HotelPlanner Tour win, which came at the Kolkata Challenge back in March.
“It helps being able to draw off past memories, but I am just going to go play the same golf and hopefully post two good scores,” he added.
Manley heads into moving day alongside Berry on ten under par after signing for a five under par 66 on day two. The 46-year-old tasted victory as recently as 2023 on the HotelPlanner Tour and is eyeing a fifth career win this weekend.
“The game seems to be trending in the right direction,” he said. “The results haven’t been there, but I feel like I am playing better.
“I kept the ball in play nicely and I was pretty much always in the fairway, and I putted very nicely.”
Garcia, who was among the early starters on Friday, produced a flurry of birdies around the turn and dropped just one shot to move himself into contention heading into the weekend.
“I played very well but the putter was a little bit cold,” he said.
“I made a nice birdie on eight and that really got my round going. Overall, I played very well today.”
Jackson got off to a fast start on Friday after recording four front nine birdies. The 24-year-old dropped two shots on his back nine before chipping in on his closing hole to move into a tie at the top.
“It was nice to chip that in and leave feeling good about the round because it was getting pretty tiring on the second nine,” he said.
“I thought it was a good challenge again. There are birdies there you just have to hit good shots.”
Hong Kong’s Matthew Cheung is one shot back on nine under par, one stroke clear of Italian Renato Paratore, Slovakian Tadeas Tetak, Swede Tobias Jonsson and American Nick Carlson.
The third round of the Raiffeisenbank Golf Challenge gets under way at 7:30am on Saturday with Berry, Manley and Garcia teeing off in the final group at 12:00pm.
