Home favourite Stephanie Meadow and Manon De Roey leading the way after the second round in the women’s section of the innovative ISPS Handa World Invitational.
Todd Clements from England holds a one-shot lead after the weather-delayed second round of the ISPS Handa World Invitational Men | Women, Presented by Modest! Golf Management, with home favourite Stephanie Meadow and Manon De Roey leading the way in the women’s section of the innovative tournament.
In a race to finish his round before nightfall, Clements posted four birdies in his opening nine holes at Galgorm Castle Golf Club before defying the challenging scoring conditions to come back in level par and secure his place at the top of the leaderboard for the first time in his career on seven under par.
Despite bogeying his final hole, the 22-year-old will begin his third round at Galgorm Castle with a narrow advantage over four players including Scotland’s Calum Hill (winner of last year’s NI Open at the same venue), Spaniard Sebastian Garcia Rodriguez, Englishman Laurie Canter and Francesco Laporta, from Italy, who sit one shot back on six under par.
With ten millimetres of rain falling overnight on the two co-hosting venues, Galgorm Castle and Massereene Golf Club, and howling wind making for tough conditions, local star Meadow demonstrated why she is touted as one of Europe’s best talents with a two under par round of 70, as she jumped ahead of overnight leader Ellie Givens into a share of the top spot at the halfway stage on four under par.
The Northern Irish player is joined at the summit of the leaderboard by De Roey, who added a one under par 71 to her opening round of 70 for a four under par aggregate total, as she looks to add to the LET Access Tour title she clinched earlier in the summer.
The pair are one shot clear of a seven-strong chasing pack which includes former World Number One amateur Leona Maguire, first round leader Givens and English golfing legend Trish Johnson.
It was another day to remember for the Irish amateurs in the field, with Lauren Walsh carding a one under par round of 72 at Galgorm Castle to head into the weekend of her first professional event just one shot off the lead.
Meanwhile, 16-year-old Josh Hill showed plenty of guts as he fired a three under par 67 at Massereene Golf Club to sit in a share of 11th place and ensure he will contest the weekend at his home club alongside the stars of the European Challenge Tour.