Thailand’s Natthakritta Vongtaveelap shot a second round of 68 for a 36-hole total of 134, and held on to a two-stroke lead after the second round of the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship (WAAP) at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
Just 19-years-old earlier this week, Vongtaveelap had a flawless round of four birdies and no bogeys. In 36 holes she has dropped just one shot.
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Some 31 players are under par after two rounds of the Peter Harradine designed layout.
Harradine made a visit to the tournament on Thursday along with his son Michael, and both were hugely impressed with the standard of play. The lowest round of the day was an eight under par 64 from Thailand’s Kan Bunnabodee, who started with a bogey on hole 1, but responded brilliantly with 9 birdies over her last 15 holes.
Natalii Gupta, who is representing the UAE this week in Abu Dhabi, shot an impressive round of 69 to make the cut on one-under.
Gupta’s round contained five birdies but two dropped shots on holes 6 and 10 for the second consecutive day but her final score saw her jump up 23 places on the leaderboard.
April Varney, UAE and EGF national women’s golf coach, said: “All the players in the UAE team have improved on their first round performances. It is hugely impressive to see Natalii make the cut in such a competitive field. We have all had a great week so far in Abu Dhabi and we will all be out tomorrow and Saturday to follow Natalii as well as watch all the players and hope to learn from all of them.”
The cut fell at two-over with the third round taking place on Friday with 52 players in the field for the final two rounds. Players from eight countries feature in the top 13 — Thailand, Japan, Australia, India, South Korea, Malaysia, Chinese Taipei and Singapore.
The Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship is organised by the R&A and the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation and sanctioned by the Emirates Golf Federation.
