Sara Byrne and Lauren Walsh have the top 10 in their sights after both carding rounds in the 60s and they share 16th place at the midway point of the Hulencourt Women’s Open just south of the Belgian capital.
Byrne found herself just above the cutline after an opening two-over 74, and she looked set for another day of frustration after bogeying the 11th – her second – to drop to +3. But birdies on the par-4 15th and par-3 17th sparked a comeback, and she blitzed the opening two thirds of the front nine with birdies on two, three, four and six to move to -5 on the day and -3 overall.
She’ll be a little disappointed to have dropped a shot on the eighth to slip back to +2, but after missed cuts in her last three LET starts, she’ll be delighted to have weekend work in Belgium.
Lauren Walsh will tee off in the group immediately prior to Byrne’s on Saturday morning, but she’s on the same score after a three-under 69.
Three birdies on the way out were followed by a level-par back nine that featured a single birdie and a single bogey, and having let a 36-hole lead slip by the wayside at last week’s Tenerife Women’s Open, she’ll be keen to make amends and eat into the six-stroke deficit she and Byrne find themselves in with 36 holes remaining.
That lead is held by Germany’s Helen Briem who sits on eight-under-par and one shot clear of India’s Avani Prashanth.
Briem delivered a solid second round, dropping her only shot of the day on the fifth hole. Starting the day just one shot off the lead, the composed 19-year-old rolled in five birdies – capped by back-to-back birdies on her final two holes around a sun-soaked Hulencourt.
“Overall, it was pretty solid, even though I made a few mistakes,” said Briem. “I recovered well from most of them, made a lot of up-and-downs, so I’m really happy with how I played.”
She noted that the course set-up demanded power and precision: “I hit a lot of drivers -it’s a pretty long course. The greens are very firm, which is something I’m not really used to. Usually my wedges spin back up to 10 metres, but here they’re rolling forward five to seven metres, so I’ve had to adjust. But overall, I think I’m handling it pretty well.”
The teen’s putting has been a standout strength over the past two weeks: “Last week I putted really well, even with tough greens. My speed control was good, and it’s been the same this week. I haven’t had a three-putt yet in two rounds, which is pretty good for me.”
A final-hole bogey cost Anna Foster her place in the weekend field, finishing alongside Olivia Mehaffey who also missed the cut by the minimum, with Canice Screene one shot behind them on +4.
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