Swiss amateur Vanessa Knecht fired a six-under 66 in the second round of the Santander Golf Tour – Burgos and sits at -11 to lead with one day remaining.
The 25-year-old talent from Zurich kicked off her second round with back-to-back birdies on the first two holes at Golf Lerma.
After dropping one shot on the third, she added two more consecutive birdies on the seventh and eighth to make the turn in 33 shots.
Keeping her momentum going on the back nine, Knecht then finished her impressive round with three birdies on the last four holes to take the one-shot lead heading into the final day.
“I didn’t make many mistakes today, I really kept it together and at the end, I knew there are holes where I could make birdies, so I just stayed patient,” said Knecht, who already has one runner-up finish on LETAS under her belt.
She continued: “It pretty feels special to be in contention, the girls here are amazing and I’m really loving it out here. I played with the same group as yesterday and we had a great vibe going on during both rounds.”
Czechia’s Sara Kouskova and Germany’s Verena Gimmy are only one shot back and in a tie for second place.
Kouskova, who was the overnight leader and set up the clubhouse lead halfway through day two carded a three-under 69 and remains in contention for another LETAS trophy.
After a strong opening day of seven-under 65, the 23-year-old stayed patient through a tough start on a windy morning in Burgos.
Kouskova started her second round on the tenth hole with a quick birdie, and after three bogeys on holes 11, 15, and 16, she erased those with three consecutive birdies on 17, 18, and the first hole.
“The wind was picking up on the front nine, so I was glad how I managed to make the turn. Finishing with two birdies on the front was a good momentum I carried onto the back nine.”
Two more birdies on the fourth and sixth had the four-time LETAS winner sign for 69 strokes and remain in the lead with only the final round remaining.
“I think as the round progresses, I tend to score more because I get more used to the greens and overall, more comfortable with my game.”
Gimmy fired two rounds of 67 to join Kouskova one shot behind the leader after day two in Spain.
Starting from the tenth hole, the player who has been playing on the LET this season had a perfect run on her front nine with four birdies, making the turn in 32 strokes.
“I was excited about my front nine, but I didn’t want to get ahead of myself. I just kept playing and taking chances,” commented Gimmy.
Adding two more birdies and one bogey on her back nine saw the German matching her first-round score and putting herself in contention.
“I don’t think I’ve been this close to a win. I’ve learned a lot on the LET this year and seeing the improvement during this week on LETAS is really nice.”
Norway’s Tina Mazarino and France’s Astrid Vayson De Pradenne share the fourth position at -7 while Sweden’s Anna Magnusson is in outright sixth at six-under-par.
The Netherlands’ Marit Harryvan is another stroke back at -5 as four players round out the top ten.
Sweden’s Louise Stahle, Swiss amateur Elena Moosmann, Spain’s Teresa Diez Moliner, and England’s Gemma Clews are all in a share of the eighth place at four-under.
A total of 48 players made the cut which was set at +1 after round two.
The final round goes underway on Saturday morning at 9:00 with the leaders teeing off from the first hole at 10:20 am.
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