Switzerland’s Natalie Armbruester is the only player under-par after a testing second round at the Raiffeisen Bank Czech Ladies Challenge.
With strong winds and tough pin locations at Panorama Golf Resort, no player shot better than a 72 on Saturday with the cut line set at 10-over-par.
Overnight co-leader Armbruester’s two-over 74, which dropped her back to one-under overall, was enough for her to take the solo lead heading into tomorrow’s final round on the LET Access Series (LETAS).
The Swiss golfer leads Iceland’s Hulda Gestsdottir (72) by one stroke, while Czechia’s home favourite Kristyna Napoleaova (73) is another stroke behind at one-over-par.
“I just kept telling myself that it’s a difficult day and everyone’s going to be making mistakes,” Armbruester said. “And that I should just keep playing shot by shot and not get too down and keep believing in myself, keep telling myself that my game’s there, I just need to be patient.
“I usually don’t check the leaderboard, but today, because the wind was so tough, I thought I’d want an idea of how the field was playing and just to help forgive myself more. I saw that everyone else was struggling as well, and it’s okay that I’m making mistakes.
Beginning the day with a birdie on the par-4 10th hole, Armbruester briefly moved to four-under overall but a double bogey on hole 13 followed by bogeys on No. 14 and No.15 dropped her back to even-par.
She said: “I had a solid first tee off, and then I judged the wind really well on my second shot, so I hit it pretty close, and then rolled in like a three-metre putt for birdie, so it was a nice start.
“Then I think I got a little flustered with the wind, and I had two difficult chips on (holes) 13 and 14. On 14, I misjudged the wind and went long, and that’s really not where you want to be, so it’s just difficult, but I’m glad that I caught myself and then made some pars coming in and making the turn.”
After steadying herself with eight straight pars, Armbruester traded a birdie on hole 6 with a bogey on the 8th hole, before closing with a birdie on the par-5 9th after hitting her approach inside five feet.
She added: “The pin is really tucked on nine, and I actually didn’t mean to go for the pin, but I guess that’s why you calculate some margin of error, and I slightly pulled my shot towards the pin, so it worked out.”
Having already come close to notching her maiden LETAS victory in the Morocco season-opener, when she finished runner-up to compatriot Caroline Sturdza, Armbruester again finds herself in a strong position to lift the trophy.
“I think I’m going to go into the round trying to focus on myself,” she said. “I think sometimes it’s easy to be distracted by what everyone else is doing. I’m just gonna try to play for myself, go shot for shot. I’m gonna go on the range now for a little bit, work on my driver, and then hopefully go out with some confidence tomorrow.”
Gestsdottir, also chasing her first LETAS win, shot back-to-back 72s mixing three birdies and three bogeys on her card.
Czechia’s Napoleaova, bidding to be the first local winner since Sara Kouskova in 2021, completes Sunday’s final group after carding a 73 with three birdies and four bogeys.
Further down the leaderboard, Denmark’s Natacha Host Husted is in fourth place at two-over overall.
Sweden’s Moa Svedenskiold and Switzerland’s Tiffany Arafi are another shot behind at three-over overall, while eight players, including France’s Lauren Holmey and England’s Rebecca Earl, are tied for seventh at four-over.
Forty-nine players will return tomorrow having shot 10-over or better to stay inside the cut line.
Overnight co-leader Kristalle Blum slumped to a 14-over 86 to miss the cut by one stroke.
Sunday’s final round will begin at 8.15am (local time). The trio of Armbruester, Gestsdottir and Napoleaova will be the final flight teeing off at 9.54am.
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