French amateur Emma Falcher fired the round of the day to catapult herself to the top of the leaderboard on day two of the Lavaux Ladies Open.
The 16-year-old, who plays in Lanniron in Brittany, started the day on two-under-par and began her round with three birdies and a bogey in her opening nine holes.
Three further birdies on the back nine ensured, the French teenager carded a round of 67 (-5) to move to seven-under-par for the tournament at Golf de Lavaux.
“It is amazing to be at the top of the leaderboard! I’m taking the tournament step by step and I have been building myself and I hope to continue with this journey,” said Falcher, who is playing in her second professional event.
“I love the course, it is amazing. My putter was really nice today and I think that was the key to my score.”
Three players are tied for second place two shots back on five-under-par including Finland’s Emilia Tukiainen, who is seventh in the LETAS Order of Merit.
The Finn fired a first round of 69 and followed that up with a second round of 70 with four birdies and two bogeys on her card.
Tukiainen, who turned professional in April, said: “It was really wet today, so the driver didn’t go as long as yesterday. I hit better approach shots in round one, but I made longer putts today and still missed a few. I was solid – there wasn’t so many mistakes.”
Alongside Tukiainen is French amateur Nastasia Nadaud and Czech amateur Agata Vahalova, who both also shot rounds of 70 (-2).
“It is a new experience to be up near the top, there is still one day to go and lots of holes to play. I played really well both days – I actually played better when it was raining early on today. I made a really good putt on the fourth hole and a birdie on the short par-five,” said 18-year-old Vahalova.
“Tomorrow I will just go and play and just try to score as best as I can. I want to enjoy, it’s nice to be in the top ten.”
Three players are T5 heading into the final day with day one leader Anne-Sterre den Dunnen, Scotland’s Gabrielle Macdonald and Spain’s Teresa Diez Moliner all on four-under-par.
One stroke further back is another trio as England’s Gemma Clews and Katrina Gillum sit alongside French amateur Arianne Klotz to round out the top ten.
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