Tropical rains have dampened the greens here at Bonville, and early indications are that birdies will be on offer throughout the day, moving day in the Australian Ladies Classic on the Coffs Coast.
They will be chasing Briton Holly Clyburn, who has a two-shot lead after the third round, having posted consecutive rounds under par to be leading the tournament at -8.
The 27-year-old Briton continued the good form which resulted in her course record-breaking opening round on Thursday.
“I played fantastic on the front nine, and it could’ve been a lot better,” she said of Friday’s round.
“Then I had an awkward yardage on 11 that made the round go upside down a bit. I took a three-putt there. But other than that I ground it out. I played some really nice golf coming in.”
French youngster Celine Boutier and Germany’s Olivia Cowan (-6) are the main challengers – both carding four-under rounds yesterday to be tied for second.
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“I felt like I hit it well all day and had a lot of birdie opportunities,” said Boutier, who had an eagle and six birdies in her round.
“It (Bonville) can be very tricky if you miss it on the wrong side, you have to be very smart with your approach shots. You can get in trouble very fast.”
Clyburn will face further challenges from Finnish pair Ursula Wikstrom and Noora Komulainen who backed up their identical opening 74s to both shoot three-under 69s yesterday to be well in contention as the event heads into the business end.
Iceland’s Valdis Jonsdottir is also a threat having backed up her opening round with another solid effort yesterday – with just a single bogey among three birdies. She will start today’s round in fourth position.
Of the Australians, Hannah Green stormed up the leaderboard yesterday with a round that included six birdies and four bogeys, as she struggled to find the lines with her putter and a common cold she caught overnight.
“I don’t feel like I played my best golf,” said the 22-year-old.
“I felt like I left a lot out there. I had four three-putts, and a lot more opportunities that I could’ve taken advantage of.”
Two-time LET winner Rebecca Artis, originally from Coonabarabran in central NSW, is also in contention after shooting -3 to be in the top 10, and Victorian Stephanie Bunque – the highest placed Aussie amateur in this field – carded a sublime -3 for the day to be sitting at +2 and in a tie for 33rd.
The weather could also play a part in today’s scoring, with a thunderstorm warning for the afternoon.
LEADERBOARD
1 CLYBURN, Holly -8
T2 BOUTIER, Celine -6
T2 COWAN, Olivia -6
4 JONSDOTTIR, Valdis Thora -5
T5 GREEN, Hannah -4
T5 MADSEN, Nanna -4
T7 HOLMQVIST, Daniella -3
T7 ARTIS, Rebecca -3
T7 LESCUDIER, Ines -3
T7 SANZ BARRIO, Marta -3
11 BOINEAU, Isabelle -2