At +2, Lauren Walsh is the leading Irish player at the LET Access Series’ Rose Ladies Open at Brockett Hall’s The Melbourne Club, with Victoria Craig one stroke further back.
Wake Forest graduate Walsh, who sank the winning putt in the NCAA Championships back in May, narrowly missed out on Epson Tour qualification and a chance to play on the LPGA proper when finishing one stroke shy of the cutline at recent LPGA Tour Q-School, is now looking to hone her skills and play her way onto the LET circuit.
And the Castlewarden fledgling pro gave herself considerable work to do from the off. Starting round one on the 10th, she’d bogey 10, 11 and 12 to immediately fall to +3, trading a birdie at 14 with a bogey at 16 as she’d make the turn in a three-over 40.
Another bogey at the fourth took her to +4, but showing great resolve, she’d birdie two of her closing five holes to reach the clubhouse at +2, ending the day tied for 37th.
Victoria Craig’s day didn’t start much better as the Bangor native bogeyed holes one, four and five, before adding another at the 10th. Her only birdie of the day came at the par-4 17th and at +3 for the tournament, she lies tied for 47th and will likely need a round of level-par or better if she’s to make the 36-hole cut.
Abigail O’Riordan, who mixed two birdies with four bogeys and a double bogey on her way to a six-over 78 lies tied for 85th, and she’ll need to shoot a second-round that’s in the sixties if she’s to make it through to Saturday’s third and final round.
English duo Billie-Jo Smith and Cloe Frankish lead the way at -6, and they are two clear of amateur Esme Hamilton at -4.
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