2 days ago
Helen Briem leads in Belgium as Sara Byrne and Lauren Walsh remain in mix
Germany's Helen Briem leads the Hulencourt Women's Open after firing eight-under-par through 36 holes in Belgium.
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.
Just one-shot back is 18-year-old rookie Avani Prashanth, who capped off her round with a closing birdie.
Australia's Kelsey Bennett – yesterday's overnight leader – finished the second round six-under par, to sit in solo third place. Bennett dropped her only shot of the day on the second hole, but followed it up with back-to-back birdies on the 6th and 7th holes to make it a solid round.
England's Meghan MacLaren and Wales' Darcey Harry both fired rounds of five-under par after 36 holes, to sit in a tie for fourth place.
A total of four players are in a share of sixth place on four-under par heading into the weekend. Czech's Klara Davidson Spilkova, Hong Kong's Ginnie Ding, France's Nastasia Nadaud, and Singapore's Shannon Tan, are only a further shot back.
Sara Byrne (68) and Lauren Walsh (69) are in a share of 16th on two under after excellent second rounds.
But Anna Foster (74) and Olivia Mehaffey (71) both finished one shout outside the cut mark on +3.
Canice Screene was a shot further back after a 74.
The third and final round gets underway tomorrow at 8:15am local time.
"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."
"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 teenager'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."
"I've rolled in some nice birdie putts, and I'm really pleased with where my game is right now - especially my short game and putting."
