Staff WriterIf you ever doubted the Irish can charm even the French coastline, Max Kennedy just changed your mind – and rewrote a bit of golfing history while he was at it.
The 23-year-old from the Emerald Isle lit up Golf Bluegreen de Pléneuf Val André like a Guy Fawkes bonfire on Thursday, carding a blistering 60 to set a new course record and storm into a four-shot lead after round one of the Blot Play9.
With two eagles, six birdies, and not a bogey in sight, Kennedy looked like a man playing on cheat codes—only this was the real deal.
“I’m very happy,” Kennedy said, no hint of understatement. “It was a very nice round, I didn’t miss a lot of shots and it was great to make a good par save on the last. It would have been nice to give myself a chance on the last for 59 but still I will take a 60.”
He’ll have to. And the rest of the field—trailing in his rearview mirror like a convoy stuck in second gear—will be left wondering just what hit them.
Starting from the 10th, Kennedy kick-started his round with a birdie-eagle-birdie combo that would have had St. Patrick himself doing the Riverdance. Further gains at 15 and 18 meant he was already five under at the turn.
Then came the fireworks. After birdies on 1 and 5, Kennedy reached the par-five 7th—his 16th hole—with a sniff of 59 in the air.
A towering three-wood and laser-guided four-iron set up his second eagle of the day. The maths was simple: one more birdie from his final two holes and he’d match the holy grail of golf scores.
It wasn’t to be. But he held firm on the ninth with a nerveless up-and-down to preserve a flawless card. “I started on ten and made a nice birdie there,” he recalled.
“I hit driver, six-iron to eleven and made a 45-footer for eagle that was pretty good. On the seventh, my 16th, I hit three-wood, four-iron to 20-feet and made a nice putt there too for eagle.”
Golf Bluegreen de Pléneuf Val André, known for its ocean views and tricky wind patterns, is no walk in the park. But Kennedy, playing with the sort of calm calculation you’d expect from a surgeon or a poker pro, made it look like mini golf.
“I never try to attack pins,” he added. “I try to play conservative but sometimes you pull or push it towards a hole, and you know it’s your day.”
Coming off an 11th-place finish at the Raiffeisenbank Golf Challenge last week, Kennedy arrived in Brittany riding a wave of confidence—and he’s surfing it right to the top of the leaderboard.
“I was very confident coming into the week because I had my best finish last week in Czech so my game is heading in the right direction,” he said.
“You can be conservative or aggressive on this course. I’m more of an aggressive player off the tee and I left myself a lot of wedges and gave myself a lot of chances.”
One of those chances was nearly the first 59 in Blot Play9 history. And while the crowd didn’t get that particular headline, they did witness a masterclass in course management and raw ball-striking.
Trailing in his wake is two-time DP World Tour winner James Morrison at six-under, followed by Norwegian Baard Skogen on five-under. Ireland’s Mark Power and Belgian Matthis Besard share fourth a shot back, but all of them are chasing shadows at this point.
Round two tees off at 7:50 am local time, and all eyes will be on Kennedy, who’s paired with Spaniard Borja Virto and local hope Edgar Catherine at 2:10 pm.
If the young Irishman brings even half of Thursday’s firepower, Golf Bluegreen de Pléneuf Val André might need a new record book by the weekend.
And perhaps a fire extinguisher.
