Lauren Walsh looks on course for a trophy in her second event of the season with Wake Forest University as the Demon Deacons opened up an 11-shot lead at the 23rd Bryan National Collegiate.
Off the back of a top-10 at the season-opening ANNIKA, Walsh posted rounds of 73 and 70 at the Champion Course at Bryan Park to lie one-under after a fantastic opening two rounds for Wake Forest in North Carolina, leaving her fifth in the individual leaderboard, which is topped by Charlotte’s Kaiyuree Moodley at five-under after rounds of 68 and 71.
But more pleasingly for Curtis Cup ace Walsh is that Wake Forest are in a commanding position at the top of the team leaderboard going into today’s final round after some excellent performances all round by the Demon Deacons.
Rachel Kuehn posted 68-72 and Carolina Lopez-Chacarra went 68-73 to help Wake Forest establish their excellent 11-shot advantage over Campbell, with Charlotte a further shot behind and Old Dominion one more shot adrift in fourth.
What will also encourage Walsh is how she improved from round one to two, posting just one birdie and two bogeys in her one-over first round, but then attacking the course in the afternoon and recording four birdies and two bogeys.
Having already tasted team success with Wake Forest, winning the East Lake Cup back in 2019, Walsh will be keen to add some individual joy to that list too with a strong final round today.
Meanwhile, former Irish Close champion Annabel Wilson was the unused score for UCLA in both opening rounds of The Molly Collegiate Invitational in California, but the Bruins are still right in the mix for the title.
Wilson, who also played in the Curtis Cup, struggled to rounds of 81 and 84 on Monday, but her team-mates combined to be 15-over-par at Bayonet Golf Course in Seaside to hold a share of the lead with San Jose State.
Lurgan woman Wilson has not yet tasted success with UCLA, so she will be keen to bounce back and help them with a strong third round today, while she is likely too far back to be in the running for the individual title which is led by Bruins team-mate Zoe Campos at one-under.
- Full scoring HERE
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