Louis Klein, still 13 years old, played a par round in the first golf tournament of the Czech Open 2023 in Beroun. It was enough for a 16th place tie. Amazingly, the Hungarian amateur Bence Bertényi leads the tournament with a grant of 600,000 crowns, who shot a huge 64 shots and is two shots ahead of another amateur, this time from the Czech Republic, Timotej Formánek. Experienced Lukáš Tintěra and Slovak Lukáš Zušťák share the third place, both playing five shots under par.
For Klein, the Berun tournament is mainly a preparation for the D+D REAL Czech Masters European Tour event, which will be played next week at Albatross. The tropical heat, the afternoon wind and the course of the Royal Beroun Golf Club with very fast and difficult greens was a really tough test.
“It was very difficult, especially the greens are fast and difficult,” Klein admitted. But he also had reservations about his game. “I made some mistakes sometimes and put badly today. This is probably the most important thing,” Klein declared, who will celebrate his 14th birthday in a week. He made two birdies and a bogey on the first nine, fell to +2 on the second nine, but got back to par with two birdies on the last four holes.
Even the experienced professional Aleš Kořínek recognized the difficulty of the course and the conditions, who was two under par after the opening nine, but he did not stop doing well on the second nine. In the end, he finished with a score of 75 shots, which means three over par. “I had a poor night, I ate a poor thing. At first it was positive, but in the end I lacked energy” admitted Kořínek, who is the course record holder with a score of 61 shots.
A year ago at the Czech Masters, David Tomi was the best of three Czech players to make the cut. For him too, the tournament in Beroun is a test before this year’s DP World Tour event. He came into the first round at even par, but his round was definitely not boring at all.
“After six holes I was two under, but then the crunch came and in five holes I collected seven shots on par,” Tomi described the course of the Lap, in which he started from the tenth position and which looked like a roller coaster. He played a triple bogey on the 16th hole, a double bogey on the 18th and then a bogey on the first and second.
nonetheless, he won the last seven holes and recorded five more birdies. “I told myself that I will try again, that I must fight. It is positive to know that even if some holes do not work out, there is still a chance to turn it around. Par is a positive result in this case. .” Tommy stated.
Lukáš Tintěra is no longer a Czech PGA official, but he still knows golf. He showed it in the first round, where he shot 67 shots and that moved him to 3rd place, which he shares with Slovak amateur Lukáš Zušťák. “The Berounské course suits me, I could do it already in training and today too. I hit all eighteen greens, it was perfect for me. And I’m still very sorry for three bogeys after three three-putts. It could be was even better.” commented Tintěra on the first round.
The surprising leader after the opening round was Hungarian amateur Bertényi, who recorded an eagle, eight birdies and two bogeys. The player with a +5.5 handicap plays in the extra league for GC Brno in Kaskáda and a few weeks ago he took 9th place in the international amateur championship of the Czech Republic.
Spaniard Carl Suneson is also an interesting name in the tournament. The 55-year-old professional has also won one DP World Tour tournament and another six on the Challenge Tour in the past. He shot 71 in the first round at Beroun, one under par, and tied for 13th place.