Tiffany Arafi produced a round of 71 (-1) to lead the inaugural Madaef Golfs Ladies Open by Saidia Resorts by three shots at the 36-hole mark in Morocco.
The Swiss player sat in a share of second place overnight and handled the windier conditions well on day two at Golf Lacs Saidia.
Arafi rolled in birdies at the eighth and 10th holes before dropping a shot on 12, she made another birdie on 13 and a bogey on 16 for her round of one-under.
The 25-year-old, who turned professional in 2023, holds a three-shot lead with a total of four-under-par.
“It was way more complicated than yesterday, and the wind direction was not the same as yesterday, so it was like a new course,” said Arafi.
“I’m happy about my round. I had a chip-in birdie on 13, so I would say that was the best one, and I had a bogey just before, so it was a good boost for the mental game.
“With the wind, it was just about making good choices about the iron shots into the greens, I played to the bigger part of the green. Just trying to hit fairways and greens,
“Honestly, I’ve not been watching the leaderboard. I’ve just been trying to take good shots and do what my swing coach told me to do these last weeks. I’m trying to apply it, so I’ve been very processed focused and that’s what I will do tomorrow.”
Czechia’s Patricie Mackova and England’s Thalia Martin both sit in a share of second place on one-under-par after the duo fired rounds of 69 (-3).
Mackova dropped her only shot of the day on the third hole before back-to-back birdies on the eighth and ninth, and she finished with a flourish with an eagle on the 15th hole.
“I had a pretty good drive, I had 194 metres to the pin, so I hit a hybrid and I got a good kick,” said Mackova. “It kicked towards the hole and I had maybe six meters for eagle. I made that which was very nice.
“It was definitely tougher than the first day. I didn’t have a great round yesterday and I went to the range afterwards and I worked on my technique with my with my coach. I realised a few things that I have to be careful of today, so that definitely helped and I was just trying to focus on these things and keep going.”
England’s Martin, who won earlier this year on the Sunshine Ladies Tour, only had one blemish on her scorecard with a double bogey, as well as birdies at the third, 13th, 15, 16th and 18th holes.
“It was challenging,” said Martin. “The course without the wind is challenging, so plus the wind it’s even more. I like playing in the wind being from England, so I’m quite used to it.
“I just thought if I can keep myself in regulation, get on the greens and fairways. I would say the putting was the best. I had a few iffy tee shots, but I was quite unfortunate with where it landed, and the putting definitely helped me out today.
“It was definitely a confidence boost winning in South Africa. To actually know that you can do it is quite nice. I actually had a tattoo to stamp that mark, so when I looked down it gives a boost. It helps especially a week like this with the wind and everything to know that you can do it, and you’ve climbed up leaderboards before.”
Switzerland’s Natalie Armbruester is in outright fourth place on even par with four players one shot further back as Austria’s Katharina Muehlbauer, France’s Anne-Charlotte Mora and English duo Jessica Hall and Charlotte Heath are all T5.
Six players are in a share of ninth place with one round remaining, the cut fell at +8 with 50 players making it through to the final round including four amateurs.
Round three will begin at 8 am (local time) with the leading group teeing off at 10.45 am in Morocco.
For more information on the LET Access Series, visit letaccess.com and follow @LETAccess on Facebook, Instagram and X – #Access2LET.
