Tranlate this title Irish Challenge, Harding triumphs at Killeen in spanish

South African Justin Harding won the 2026 Irish Challenge, the 19th stop on the HotelPlanner Tour, held from August 13th to 16th on the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course at Killeen Castle (County Meath, Ireland).

With a total of 275 strokes (-13) of 65-70-69-71, Harding finished one stroke ahead of Frenchman Mathieu Decottignies-Lafon and South African Louis Albertse, both at -12 (276).

Tied for fourth place were Martin Vorster and Charles Huntzinger at -11; followed by Matthew Southgate, Will Enefer, Bryce Easton, and Tobias Jensen Edén (SWE) at -10. Rounding out the top 10 were Haydn Barron, Mark Power, Pablo Ereño, and Frank Kennedy, all nine points behind.

Irish Challenge, results

Among the Italians, Jacopo Vecchi Fossa performed well, finishing 28th with a 283 (-5) shot score of 72-68-71-72. The Emilian picked up important points on the Road to Mallorca. Lorenzo Scalise (72-72), Ludovico Addabbo (74-72), and Aron Zemmer (71-77) all missed the cut. Alessandro Nodari retired after just a few holes.

The Irish Challenge, the eleventh edition of the HotelPlanner Tour tournament, returns from August 13th to 16th. For the second consecutive year, it will be played on the prestigious Killeen Castle course in County Meath, about thirty minutes from Dublin. After its debut in 2025, the Road to Mallorca confirms the course designed by Jack Nicklaus (18-time Major champion and designer of nearly 300 courses worldwide), who considers it one of his proudest creations. The three-year agreement includes a return in 2027.

The layout, already host to three editions of the Ladies Irish Open and the 2011 Solheim Cup (won by Europe after eight years), is one of the toughest tests of the 2026 calendar. It measures 6,946 meters (par 72), and last year only winner Oihan Guillamoundeguy managed to finish all four days under par. The par-3 16th, about 182 meters, was the most difficult hole: just 39 birdies against 166 bogeys or worse. The closing par-4 also proved challenging, with 122 scores over par. Scoring opportunities abound primarily on the front nine, where the two par-5s (2 and 7) and the par-3 on the 8th played significantly under par.

The tournament has historically been a springboard to the DP World Tour: four of the last five winners earned status on the same circuit in the same year. Guillamoundeguy, after his 2025 success, finished fifth in the rankings. Before him, Joakim Lagergren (2024 at the K Club), Todd Clements (2022), and Daan Huizing (2021) had all moved up a category, while Brandon Robinson Thompson (2023) did so the following year. No Irish player has yet won the Irish Challenge since its debut in 2015. The locals will try to break their drought, following Robert Moran’s fourth-place finish in 2025, which earned him the Christy O’Connor Jr. Memorial Trophy and entry to the Amgen Irish Open. Among those competing will be Liam Nolan (the highest-ranked player on the Road to Mallorca) and Max Kennedy (already a two-time Irish Open contender).