Amy Boulden holds the overnight lead in the Association Suisse de Golf Ladies Open after a 2nd round, 69, placed the Welsh player one shot ahead of Scotland’s Sally Watson at 6 under par. Boulden opened with eight straight pars, before a two putt birdie on the par 5 ninth hole, took the 20 year-old from St. Asaph, to 4 under. A solitary bogey on the 2nd was followed by a string of three birdies in a row from the 4th to the 6th to take Boulden into the lead.
The conditions were tougher during the second round at the Gams-Werdenberg Golf Club, with cold and breezy conditions. Boulden, an early starter was pleased with her position going into the final round. She commented, “The course played a lot longer today, I think the tees were the same but I was hitting longer clubs in. I played really steady, left a few shots out there but had a good finish. The greens were good, a bit faster than yesterday. I played a Tartan Tour event a few weeks ago and finished 2nd, I am playing well so my plan for tomorrow is just the same.”
LET rookie Watson, from Elie, matched two birdies with two bogeys for an even par round, 72 to add to her first round of 67 to lie in 2nd place on her own, at 5 under par.
England’s Kelly Tidy and Ursula Wikstrom from Finland are a further shot back at 4 under in a tie for third place. Tidy was pleased with her solid play, recently returning to competitive golf after a long break due to injury. The 22 year-old from Bolton, Lancashire, birdied the 377 yard par four 5th hole, hitting a nine iron to five feet and followed up with a birdie on the 6th, holing from 35 feet. Tidy bogeyed the 17th before hitting a 4 iron to 20 feet and converting the birdie with two putts.
Tidy missed the most of the 2013 LETAS season, due to injury. After initially being misdiagnosed after suffering with pain in her arms, she received the right diagnosis from a friend of her father, who is a physiotherapist, correctly identifying that her shoulder positioning was causing tension in her back and neck, partially cutting off the blood supply to her arms. Tidy is now fully fit but has been careful with her return to competition and her practice schedule.
“This is my first tournament in a year, I’ve not competed. I would probably say in the last year I’ve only completed five lots of eighteen holes, I didn’t hit a ball for 8 months. It’s just nice to be back and feeling fit again. I’ve actually been working a little bit, keeping my days really busy and because of my injury, keeping my practice short, sweet and to the point really and doing a lot of work in the gym.”
England’s Abbey Gittings, Anna Rossi from Italy and Swede Emma Westin were a stroke further back in a share of fifth place on 3 under, with a further four players on two-under-par.
The leading Swiss player was Melanie Maetzler in a share of 16th place on even par.
Forty three professionals and six amateurs made the cut, which fell at 4 over par. The final round begins at 8.10am on Sunday morning.
