As three players moved in to share the lead, it was very close at the top of the leaderboard on Day Two of the Ladies European Tour’s Final Stage Lalla Aicha Tour School.
As three players moved in to share the lead, it was very close at the top of the leaderboard on Day Two of the Ladies European Tour’s Final Stage Lalla Aicha Tour School.
England’s Sian Evans (68), Belgian Leslie Cloots (67), and Swede Linnea Ström (66) share the lead on eight-under-par, one clear of Germany’s Esther Henseleit (69), who also played her second round at Amelkis Golf Club.
Evans, 27, from Gillingham, who has been crowdfunding to cover her trip to Tour School, said: “I started off pretty well. I had quite a few birdies in a row and I holed a few putts, which got the momentum going. I birdied 10 and then just stayed steady and made lots of pars coming in.”
Evans praised her coach, former European Tour player Zane Scotland, for helping her to find more consistency in her swing.
Cloots, 24, from Antwerp, said: “I had a fun round today. I had six birdies and one bogey. The weather is nice and the course is in great shape.”
“I played here last week so I feel really confident. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Continuing her love affair with the golf course, Ström, won pre-qualifying B at Amelkis last week by six strokes, with a winning 72-hole total of 23-under-par.
The 22-year-old from Hovas said: “I played very steady and was good from the tee box, so I gave myself a lot of good shots into the green. I had an eagle on number 15, which helped me a lot."
“I hit a good drive and then a 4-iron and made a five-metre putt. It’s a fun course to play and the greens are rolling well.”
Labelled as a future star of women’s golf, Henseleit, from Hamburg, was slightly disappointed with her round, but said afterwards: “I started really well with two birdies on the first two holes and I played some easy pars. On the ninth hole, I made a stupid bogey, but I thought, ‘there are more birdies out there’. I made two more on 11 and 14 and then finished with minus three. I think the Palm Golf Ourika is more difficult because if you hit a bad shot, it is much worse than here. I feel that at Amelkis you have more open space around the greens.”
Alongside Nadine Dreher from Austria, the first round leader, Astha Madan from India, sits in tied 10th spot.
Madan had a bad beginning after taking a quintuple bogey nine on the 10th hole at Palm Golf Ourika, but she reclaimed herself with four birdies on the back nine, before carding two bogeys on the front in a 74.
Madan said: “I started with a tee shot where I slipped because the grass was a bit wet in the morning and I fumbled here and there but got through the hole. I knew I was hitting it well so I started off with the same mind-set, one shot at a time and here I am. Of course it’s not how I wanted to start but I knew it was one of those things I wanted to get out of the way. After that I committed to every putt. I could see the line today and I dropped a few birdies.
“Two bogeys caught me but it was still there.”
Of the other notable players, Bronte Law is tied for 14th and LET regulars Chloé Leurquin and Vikki Laing are tied for 25thspot on one-under-par.
There will be a cut to the leading 60 players and ties after 72 holes. After 90 holes, the top five will earn category 5c membership while those in positions six to 25 will earn category 8 membership of the LET for 2019.
You can find the full scoreboard here.
Was 2018 The Change For Women's Golf? READ MORE
