We have ourselves a stacked leaderboard heading into the final round of the Ford Women’s NSW Open with regional qualifier Hannah Reeves now leading the way on 12-under par.
Related: Arie Donegan’s first day on LET gets written for the ages
The 17th edition of the tournament has already produced plenty of drama due to heavy rainfall on Thursday, and Saturday was no different as half the field returned in the morning to complete their second rounds.
Once 36 holes were finally done and dusted at Wollongong Golf Club, a shotgun start for round three commenced at 14:45 local time with Ireland’s Aine Donegan holding a two-shot lead.
Donegan got off to the perfect start birdying the par-5 1st before the Irishwoman dropped five shots in her next 10 holes to open things up to the rest of the field.
Reeves, a winner of three regional qualifiers, took advantage on a sun-soaked Saturday recovering well from a bogey at the 3rd to card six birdies for a round of 66 (-5).
The scoreboard included a spectacular grandstand finish as the Australian almost holed out for an eagle three. She leads compatriot Kelsey Bennett by one shot with 18 holes remaining in New South Wales.
“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.”
Bennett meanwhile enjoyed a fine day herself firing a round of 66 (-5) which included seven birdies. The 26-year-old is teeing up at her home state this week and is going in pursuit of a maiden Ladies European Tour (LET) victory.
“I didn’t feel like I struck the ball as well today as I did the first day, but I rolled some putts in, which was nice,” the Australian said. “I have my family here, which is awesome. It’s so nice because obviously I’m usually playing overseas all the time, so to have them here is amazing.”
Elsewhere, Thailand’s April Angurasaranee had a day to remember posting her best ever round of golf, a 62 (-9), which included a hole-in-one at the 170 yard par-3 12th.
“I think it [the hole-in-one] was like 170-ish yards,” the Thai star said. “A bit into the wind, I had five iron and it just pitched and then went in. It will be my third ever hole-in-one, second in tournament. So yeah, pretty cool.
“I guess with this week being quite hectic, my mentality is just go with the flow. Whatever comes, just flow with it. And today I started out really well. I mean, obviously having a hole-in-one beginning of the round, but everything just seems to be in the rhythm and be in the flow. And I think my playing partners also had quite a good day. So the momentum of the group was quite nice. Yeah. So that just kept it going.”
Angurasaranee sits in a tie for third alongside France’s Agathe Laisne and 17-year-old amateur Soomin Oh from South Korea. Both players read the low scoring script on Saturday afternoon firing rounds of 64 (-7) and 66 (-6) respectively to soar into the top-five.
One back from the trio on nine-under par are England’s Charlotte Heath, a rookie on the LET, plus veteran Sarah Kemp from Australia. The latter is teeing up in her first event since having further surgery on her knee.
