Elm Park’s Anna Foster continued her fine form in Friday’s second round of the Hulencourt Women’s Open in Belgium as the 24-year-old sees herself just five strokes back from the lead in a share of third at four-under-par.
It was a relatively slow start for Foster as the Dubliner began her round with two early bogeys at the par-4 first and fourth, no thanks to the swirling winds. As the sun began to shine in Belgium, so did Foster’s game as she closed out her front nine with birdies at the eighth and ninth to take the turn at even-par.
Foster’s form didn’t stop there as she looked to be on a mission on the back nine, making birdie at the 10th, 15th, and 17th to post a very impressive three-under-par 69.
Foster was the only Irish representative to make it into the weekend as Sara Byrne, Aine Donegan, and Olivia Mehaffey all failed to get inside the +5 cutline.
Byrne couldn’t find the form she has shown early on this season as she made five bogeys in a round that saw her post a four-over-par 76, finishing her week at seven-over.
Donegan managed to better her first round 77 with a two-over-par second round but it wasn’t enough as the 24-year-old also ended her week at seven-over. Mehaffey’s mistakes were punished early as she made a triple bogey at the first. The 28-year-old posted a two-over-par second round to finish at +8.
Spain’s Carolina Chacarra rocketed to the top of the leaderboard after posting a new course record at Hulencourt Golf Club. The 23-year-old went bogey free as she carded a seven-under-par 65 to lead the pack by two strokes at nine-under-par.
The Chacarra siblings are showing that the Spanish golf pedigree is alive and well as Carolina’s leads into the weekend after her brother Eugenio, won back-to-back titles on the DP World Tour last month.
“He (Eugenio) is definitely my best friend and role model so it helps when he’s playing good, it gives me momentum. We had pretty close tee times today and we usually try to keep up with eachothers scores… it’s great to have a sibling that also plays golf and understands what we all go through,” said Chacarra.
Chacarra dealt with the windy conditions superbly, closing out with three birdies in a row as she looks to win in just her second LET start of the season.
“My caddie and I just stuck to our plan hitting fairways and greens. The rough here, it can be tough when you miss fairways so it helped I was good off the tee. I made a couple of great putts too,” she added.
Australia’s Kelsey Bennett sits in second place at seven-under after posting an impressive five-under-par 67. The 26-year-old sits third in the season-standings with one win to her name.
“It was really solid,” the Australian Women’s Classic winner said. “I rolled in some nice putts and am really looking forward to this weekend. There’s still lots of golf to play out there,” she added.
In a tie for third on four-under par sit all four of yesterday’s leaders: Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux, South Africa’s Nadia van der Westhuizen, England’s Bronte Law and India’s Diksha Dagar – all joining Foster at four-under.
Leave a comment