Rebekah Gardner and Beth Coulter are both safely through to the last-64 of The 122nd Women’s Amateur Championship as stroke play becomes matchplay.
Gardner of Clandeboye qualified at her ease in 16th place on level-par after back to back rounds of 72 while Kirkistown Castle’s Coulter got in at 39th place despite a second round of 76.
Gardner will tackle Swedish star Josefin Widal while Coulter faces Norway’s Ohma Silje Torvund.
Jasmine Koo conjured a grandstand finish in the evening sunshine at Nairn to top the stroke play qualifying.
The 19-year-old from California made a birdie on the 17th and an eagle on the final hole in a two-under-par 70 and finished at the head of the standings with a six-under aggregate of 138.
While overnight frontrunner, Marie Eline Madsen of Denmark, stumbled on her back-nine, Koo took advantage with a closing flourish.
After her three on the penultimate hole, the Curtis Cup player struck a 3-wood into the par-5 18th green which rolled to within 20 feet and set up the eagle opportunity which she seized. That hoisted her to the summit, one shot ahead of Madsen and France’s Constance Fouillet.
Madsen, who posted a course-record 66 on day one to set the pace, had fortified her position of authority with an eagle on her 2nd hole in round two. At one stage, the Dane was three strokes clear of the chasing pack but a bogey on the 13th was followed by a double-bogey on the 15th and she slithered off the top with a 73.
Fouillet, who was handily placed after an opening 70, experienced a roller-coaster start to her second round with a bogey, an eagle and a double-bogey on her first three holes.
The 19-year-old, who is a student at the University of California, steadied the ship with a stream of pars before reeling off a quartet of birdies at the 9th, 10th, 16th and 17th in a 69 to coast into the match play stages on five-under 139.
Fouillet, aiming to follow in the footsteps of Céline Boutier who won The Women’s Amateur Championship ten years ago, was at the vanguard of a strong French assault in the upper echelons.
That offensive was bolstered by Sara Brentcheneff who underlined her talents with a delightfully assembled six-under 66, which equalled the course record set by Madsen on day one.
The 17-year-old, who won among the professionals on the Ladies’ European Tour Access Series earlier this season, didn’t have a single birdie in her opening round of 74 but she wasted no time in making hay while the sun shone down on Nairn and birdied her first three holes.
She was joined on the four-under mark by her compatriot, Louise Reau, another USA Curtis Cup player, Catherine Park, and Scotland’s Hannah Darling.
The qualifying cut mark fell at five-over-par with 12 players involved in a play-off for the final eight places. A total of 64 players will contest the match play stage, which gets underway tomorrow.
The winner of this year’s Championship gains entry to the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Porthcawl, the US Women’s Open, The Amundi Evian Championship, the Chevron Championship and, by tradition, will earn an invitation to compete at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
Scoring HERE
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