He’s made just one cut from four starts this year — in faraway Bali of all places — but 32-year old Corkman Niall Turner is showing far nearer home that he has a game for all climes.

His biggest claim to fame as an amateur was that he lost to Shane Lowry in the 2007 Irish Close final at Cork Golf Club.

But afer making an eagle three at the ninth and four birdies in a five under 66, he’s just a shot behind leader Emilio Cuartero Blanco on 11 under par and chasing his maiden tour win.

Cuartero shot a second successive 65 at Galgorm Castle to lead by one shot on 12 under par at the halfway point of the Northern Ireland Open in Association with Sphere Global and Ulster Bank.

Turner has only recently returned from a long-term back injury (he also had hip trouble) but has found form in front of the Irish crowds and is keen to make up for lost time.

“I’ve had a long time waiting to get back out here,” Turner said. “It’s been a complete nightmare to be honest so to be back now and in contention is fantastic, I couldn’t have wished for anything more.”

Cuartero, 24, is bidding to become Spain’s third European Challenge Tour winner this season after Nacho Elvira and Borja Virto Astudillo.

He did not drop a shot all day while adding six birdies to the eight made in his opening round and leads from Turner and American John Hahn

“Conditions were perfect today,” he said. “I was playing with Gary Wardlow, a local player, and I asked him how many days of summer do they get like this one, and he said ‘one, so you’d better enjoy it!’”

Northern Ireland’s own Gareth Shaw gave the home fans something to cheer about by firing the low round of the week so far, a seven under par 64 helping him to make the cut after a shaky opening round of 73.

But Castledawson’s Chris Selfridge trumped Shaw to be the leading Northern Irishman heading into the weekend after the 23 year old carded a five under 66 to sit four off the pace on eight under.

Enjoying professional life Chris? 8 - starts as a pro 0 - missed cuts 4 - off the lead at the pic.twitter.com/CMiFmTB6yP
— Challenge Tour (@Challenge_Tour) August 7, 2015

Tournament Ambassador Michael Hoey birdied two of his final three holes but his two under par total that was not enough to make the cut, missing by one shot.

Just seven of the 23 Irish entrants made the cut with Simon Thornton (69) seven under and Peter Lawrie (70) four under with Shaw and Niall Kearney (69) while Headfort’s Brian Casey made it right on the three under mark after a 69.

Scores after round 2:

130 E Cuartero Blanco (Esp) 65 65,

131 Niall Turner (Irl) 65 66, J Hahn (USA) 65 66,

132 S Gros (Fra) 66 66, J McLeary (Sco) 67 65,

133 S Arnold (Aus) 66 67, D Huizing (Ned) 65 68, C Sordet (Fra) 67 66,

134 T Pilkadaris (Aus) 69 65, Chris Selfridge (Nir) 68 66, H Porteous (RSA) 65 69, D Law (Sco) 67 67,

135 R Kellett (Sco) 66 69, A McArthur (Sco) 68 67, J Winther (Den) 67 68, G Woolgar (Eng) 67 68, D Im (USA) 68 67, P Maddy (Eng) 68 67, S Wakefield (Eng) 66 69, Simon Thornton (Irl) 66 69,

136 N Raymond (Eng) 69 67, S Manley (Wal) 66 70, J Robinson (Eng) 68 68, E Goya (Arg) 66 70, V Riu (Fra) 67 69, J Lima (Por) 70 66, D Perrier (Fra) 69 67, J Lara (Esp) 70 66, R Evans (Eng) 66 70,

137 L Gagli (Ita) 69 68, Gareth Shaw (Nir) 73 64, A Knappe (Ger) 69 68, G Murray (Sco) 70 67, T Sluiter (Ned) 66 71, P Figueiredo (Por) 70 67, B Stone (RSA) 66 71, R Gouveia (Por) 70 67, M Armitage (Eng) 72 65, J Glennemo (Swe) 66 71, P Whiteford (Sco) 68 69, A Snobeck (Fra) 68 69, S Matus (Cze) 70 67, B Virto Astudillo (Esp) 73 64, H Joannes (Bel) 69 68, J Billing (Swe) 70 67,

138 Niall Kearney (Irl) 69 69, C Gloet (Den) 73 65, T Linard (Fra) 68 70, Peter Lawrie (Irl) 68 70, B Hafthorsson (Isl) 69 69, N Elvira (Esp) 68 70, D Coupland (Eng) 69 69,

139 S Walker (Eng) 71 68, N Kimsey (Eng) 67 72, O Stark (Swe) 68 71, S Henry (Sco) 70 69, G King (Eng) 70 69, Brian Casey (Irl) 69 70, J Watts (Eng) 68 71, M Orrin (Eng) 71 68,

Cut

140 Michael Hoey (Nir) 70 70, Simon Ward (Irl) 69 71,

141 Ruaidhri McGee (Irl) 73 68, Brendan McGovern (Irl) 72 69,

142 Damien McGrane (Irl) 73 69, Michael McGeady (Irl) 71 71,

143 Tiarnan McLarnon (am) (Nir) 71 72, John Ross Galbraith (am) (Nir) 75 68,

144 Alan Dunbar (Nir) 74 70,

146 Reeve Whitson (Nir) 69 77, Colm Campbell (am) (Nir) 73 73,

147 Stephen Grant (Irl) 71 76,

148 Richard Kilpatrick (Nir) 76 72,

149 Gary Wardlow (Nir) 75 74, Michael McDermott (Irl) 70 79,

151 Chris Carvill (Nir) 71 80,