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The Women's Amateur

Highlights: Lottie Woad leading qualifier at The 121st Women's Amateur

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The R&A
25 Jun 24
3 mins

World number one Lottie Woad led the way among the qualifiers for the match play stage of The 121st Women’s Amateur Championship at Portmarnock today.

Woad carded a six-under-par round of 66 to move to nine-under-par for the stroke play qualifying rounds, five ahead of her nearest challenger, Meja Ortengren from Sweden.  In calm but chilly conditions at the historic links north of Dublin, the 20-year-old from Farnham, England bounced back from a bogey at the first by playing a 100 yard approach to the second to tap-in range for a birdie. Woad holed out from 15ft for a birdie three at the 4th and followed up with another birdie at the par-3 7th.  The Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion kept up the momentum with consecutive birdies on the 9th and 10th. Another two birdies in three holes from the 13th crowned an excellent round for the 2022 R&A Girls’ Amateur Champion.

In-form number one

This is the Florida State University student’s second appearance in The Women’s Amateur Championship and maintains the excellent form which saw her notch up one win and eight top eight finishes on the college circuit this season. “The first goal was just to qualify and then when you’re up there just keep playing well and see if you can be the leading qualifier,” she said. “The conditions today were definitely a lot easier so I could attack a lot of pins but I still had to respect a few of the pins. I definitely holed a lot of putts today so that always helps. “I like playing links golf. I haven’t played it in a while so it was good just to get the feel back. I played relatively conservatively off most tees to avoid some fairway bunkers but in match play I might hit a few more drivers. I was kind of just testing it out the last couple of days. “I’ll momentum and confidence from playing well but this is when the actual competition starts.”

24 Oct 24

Swede dreams

Ortengren’s eventful three-under-par 69 took her to second place. The 19-year-old from Stockholm produced four birdies in six holes from the 3rd with two bogeys sandwiched in between on the 4th and 6th.  The 2023 R&A Girls’ Amateur semi-finalist bounced back from a dropped shot at the 14th with a birdie at the next and then holed a fine putt for a closing birdie at the last. “It was good. I was happy with the day. I made some long putts. Putting has been a little bit tricky the last few weeks so I’m happy with having a good round.  “It’s been very difficult with the wind but I think I got two tee times that have been pretty good with not a lot of wind so it was manageable out there today. I just played steady and hit as many greens as I could. “I like it (Portmarnock). It fits my eye pretty well. I like the play but it’s hard if you’re not hitting it where you want it. It’s hard when you are not playing as good and rewarding when you are so it’s nice. “I’ll get some sleep tonight and be ready for tomorrow.” Spain’s Julia Lopez Ramirez finished in a tie for third on one-over-par alongside her compatriot Paula Martin Sampedro and the USA’s Farah O’Keefe. Sara Byrne finished as the leading Irish qualifier in a tie for 9th position on four-over-par and she was joined by the 2022 Women’s Amateur Champion Jess Baker, who qualified in 11th position on five-over-par. The cut fell at 13-over-par. There was a six-player play-off for the final place with 64 players progressing to the match play stage which gets underway tomorrow.
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The Women's Amateur