Holly Clyburn Photo: DogLeg Media
England’s Holly Clyburn continued to lead the Banesto Tour Valencia after adding a second round 71 to her first round of 67 at GC Escorpion in Spain on Friday.
The Cleethorpes professional moved to six under par and stayed one shot clear of the Netherlands’ Marjet Van Der Graaff.
Swede Camilla Lennarth sits three shots further back in a share of third position with England’s Eleanor Givens and Spain’s Carmen Alonso, whose 69 was the best round of the day.
France’s Marion Ricordeau, who is lying in second on the LETAS ranking, shot a 71 to share sixth with Denmark’s Julie Tvede on one under. England’s Tracey Boyes is alone in eighth on level par followed by four players a shot further back in equal ninth.
Curtis Cup player Clyburn, 21, who turned professional at the recent Crete Ladies Open, signed for three birdies and two bogeys in the middle of her round on a tougher day for scoring in Valencia. “I started from the 10th tee and made a bogey at 11th, I hit my drive into the trees on the left. I birdied the 16th, the 1st and the third and then bogeyed the 7th. I played pretty steady, just hit three bad drives. I’m just taking one shot at the time, anything under par was perfect today. The course is in fabulous condition and the greens are fantastic”.
Meanwhile long-hitting Van Der Graaff, a winner of the Banesto Tour in Zaragoza in April, recorded four birdies against three bogeys to stay in the hunt but was not too happy with her game. “It was not so good today, I hit some drives to the left and missed a few fairways, which made it a bit harder. A bit of a boring day, just a few birdies on par 3s but nothing spectacular. Anything can happen tomorrow, I will play the same as today, no different strategy”.
Spain’s Marta Silva, playing in her first event as a professional, improved on her opening round 75 to post a 73 which saw her end in a tie for 22nd place on four over par and making the 36-hole cut, which fell at 148.
Play for the final round begins at 9.00am tomorrow morning.
