Áine Donegan found the going tough on her first weekend appearance in her season debut as an LET professional, carding a three-over-par 74 that saw her lose her grip on the top place on the leaderboard.
The rookie pro was forced to wait until day two to get her campaign underway at Wollongong Golf Club after a washout on Thursday, but she made light of having to play 36 holes on Friday, shooting 68-63 to take a two-stroke lead into the weekend, but despite a fast start to round three, it all went awry from there.
The Lahinch woman birdied the par-5 opener, but made bogeys on three, five and eight – all par-3s – to reach the turn at +2 having conceded the lead.
Two further bogeys on 10 and 11 left her in danger of slipping outside the top 10 completely, but she steadied the ship to par her way to the 18th, then closed out with a birdie-four to end the day in a share of eighth place, four behind the new leader, Hannah Reeves.
Reeves, an Australian who played her way into the event via a Regional Qualifier, began the day four behind Donegan, but despite making an early bogey, birdied six of her final 14 holes to take a one-stroke lead over fellow Aussie, Kelsey Bennett, with Frenchwoman Agatha Laisne in solo third at -10, one shot behind Bennett.
“I’m so happy with how I finished there,” Reeves said, who will earn a full LET card can she secure the victory tomorrow. “I just kind of mis-hit a few approach shots at the start. I was struggling a bit. I did just stay really patient and just had a few nice feelings throughout my swing. And then it came together at the end. So really happy.
“It was so special [having my dad on the bag]. My parents flew down this morning. I think he was a bit nervous but yeah, it was really nice.”
Anna Foster, who began the day tied for 11th, dropped 18 places despite shooting a one-under round of 70.
The Elm Park woman started on the 16th as the players played in a shotgun start format after the second round was completed in the morning, will be particularly disappointed to have bogeyed her par-4 closing hole after making back-to-back birdies in the holes that preceded it, but at four-under-par, she can still push her way into contention for a top-10 finish if she can produce the kind of golf she played in the second round which resulted in a four-under 67.
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