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| Christel Boeljon |
Finland’s Ursula Wikstrom and defending champion Christel Boeljon of the Netherlands share the halfway lead at the Turkish Airlines Ladies Open.
The pair ended a dramatic afternoon tied at the top of the leader board on three under par 143, but it could have been even better for Boeljon had she not missed a two foot putt for birdie on the last green.
Boeljon had a 72 with contrasting nines and said: “I had a bad start: front nine I was three over. I came back on the back nine, but it was a shame I missed the birdie putt on 18: a little awkward. Overall I came back good and I’ll take the confidence I had on the back nine through to tomorrow.”
National Golf Club in Belek, Antalya, is one of the most testing courses on the LET schedule and Boeljon explained: “I think it’s the wind. There’s a little bit of wind which makes it tough because you don’t know for sure where it’s coming from and sometimes it swirls a bit which makes it difficult. It’s still playable so I guess I’m a little bit lucky that no-one’s been low.”
Wikstrom opened with a bogey at the first hole but came through the field with four birdies on her front nine.
“If you trust your swing you can fire at the pins because you don’t always have a five-iron. You have some wedge shots,” said Wikstrom, who is targeting her first victory on the Ladies European Tour.
“The front nine, I started with a bogey and after that I had four birdies so the back nine was going well and the front nine was like, well, just hanging in there. It was not as good a game and I had some chances but didn’t make the birdies. It was getting there. It’s much better and I had fun and was enjoying myself.”
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| Ursula Wikstrom |
Another Finn, Minea Blomqvist, ended the day a stroke back in third place on two under, with four players sharing fourth on one under par.
They include English teen star Charley Hull who is just two strokes off the lead playing in her first LET event.
The 16-year-old amateur from Burton Latimer in Northamptonshire, who tied for 38th in her first Major at the Kraft Nabisco Championship last month, showed maturity beyond her years as she mixed three birdies with two bogeys.
She likened the tight-tree lined layout to her home course Woburn and looked fearless as she attacked the pins, even hitting the flag on the tough 18th, where the second shot plays over a lake.
“I feel like it was good. I feel like I left a lot of shots out there, but it was alright, steady. I was just relaxed,” said Hull, ranked as one of the world’s best 10 amateurs.
“I think you’ve just got to stay patient. You’ve got to hit it straight, chip great and putt great. Your game’s got to be pretty good. It reminds me of my home course, Woburn, like the tightness of the Duchess, but the greens of the Marquess, and then the wind can get up here as well, so it’s pretty good.”
On a day when most of the leading professionals struggled, Hull made a great start with a pair of birdies on the third and fourth holes. She dropped a shot at the par-five 12th, which has been remodelled with a new green this year, birdied the 13th and then bogeyed the par three 16th.
She nearly holed for a two at the 357-yard par-four 18th, but her ball bounced towards the water and came to rest 30 feet from the flag.
First round co-leader Pernilla Lindberg was also in joint fourth. The Swede had moved three clear of the field at six under after 15 holes, but dropped five shots after finding water on the last three.
One consolation was a hole-in-one at the 147-yard / 134 metre 11th and she said: “It was a seven iron, I held it down a little bit because it was into the wind but it was drawing perfectly and landed a few steps short right of the pin and went in.
“I made two birdies back to back on 14 and 15, the par fives, so that felt really good and then bad shots the last three holes and I finished bogey, double, double. To top it off with a three putt on the last hole, I really left some out there.”
Fellow Swede Louise Larsson and Italian Diana Luna were also under par after a day of high scoring, resulting in the cut falling at seven over par.
The third round will be played from one tee only in three-balls on Saturday. The first tee time will be 8.15am with the last tee time at 12:00, midday.
Turkish Airlines Ladies Open
National Golf Club (par 73)
Belek, Antalya, Turkey
10-13 May 2012
Scores at the end of round 2:
143 – Christel Boeljon (NLD) 70 73, Ursula Wikstrom (FIN) 73 70
144 – Minea Blomqvist (FIN) 72 72
145 – Charley Hull (ENG) 73 72, Louise Larsson (SWE) 75 70, Pernilla Lindberg (SWE) 70 75, Diana Luna (ITA) 70 75
146 – Mikaela Parmlid (SWE) 77 69, Anne-Lise Caudal (FRA) 72 74, Laura Davies (ENG) 73 73, Sophie Giquel-Bettan (FRA) 73 73
147 – Caroline Masson (GER) 71 76, Florentyna Parker (ENG) 70 77, Rebecca Hudson (ENG) 72 75, Hannah Burke (ENG) 73 74, Esther Choe (USA) 75 72, Anais Maggetti (CHE) 71 76, Lee-Anne Pace (ZAF) 73 74, Charlotte Ellis (ENG) 70 77
148 – Holly Aitchison (ENG) 74 74, Bree Arthur (AUS) 73 75, Tania Elosegui (ESP) 72 76, Trish Johnson (ENG) 75 73, Stacey Keating (AUS) 71 77, Joanna Klatten (FRA) 73 75
149 – Virginie Lagoutte-clement (FRA) 75 74, Carlota Ciganda (ESP) 73 76, Linda Wessberg (SWE) 73 76, Line Vedel (DNK) 76 73, Danielle Montgomery (ENG) 72 77, Henrietta Zuel (ENG) 73 76, Hannah Jun (USA) 74 75, Lucie Andre (FRA) 71 78, Julie Maisongrosse (FRA) 76 73, Carin Koch (SWE) 72 77
150 – Marieke Nivard (NLD) 76 74, Alexandra Vilatte (FRA) 74 76, Beth Allen (USA) 76 74, Ashleigh Simon (ZAF) 78 72, Cassandra Kirkland (FRA) 74 76
151 – Dewi Claire Schreefel (NLD) 77 74, Vikki Laing (SCO) 75 76, Caroline Rominger (CHE) 80 71, Lindsey Wright (AUS) 72 79
152 – Caroline Afonso (FRA) 77 75, Malene Jorgensen (DNK) 76 76, Carly Booth (SCO) 73 79, Connie Chen (ZAF) 77 75, Stefania Croce (ITA) 76 76, Celine Palomar (FRA) 74 78, Miriam Nagl (GER) 74 78, Caroline Martens (NOR) 76 76, Rachel Jennings (ENG) 80 72, Marianne Skarpnord (NOR) 76 76
153 – Georgina Simpson (ENG) 74 79, Jaclyn Sweeney (USA) 77 76, Melissa Reid (ENG) 76 77, Smriti Mehra (IND) 79 74, Rachel Bailey (AUS) 79 74, Sarah Kemp (AUS) 73 80, Felicity Johnson (ENG) 77 76, Maria Verchenova (RUS) 78 75, Lotta Wahlin (SWE) 77 76, Anja Monke (GER) 74 79
Missed the cut:
154 – Marjet Van Der Graaff (NLD) 79 75, Giulia Sergas (ITA) 75 79, Maria Hernandez (ESP) 80 74, Emma Cabrera-bello (ESP) 74 80, Sophie Walker (ENG) 75 79, Tandi Cuningham (ZAF) 79 75, Nikki Garrett (AUS) 77 77, Elisabeth Esterl (GER) 77 77, Veronica Zorzi (ITA) 75 79, Gwladys Nocera (FRA) 80 74
155 – Jenni Kuosa (FIN) 75 80, Carmen Alonso (ESP) 79 76, Elena Giraud (FRA) 80 75, Kylie Walker (SCO) 79 76, Becky Brewerton (WAL) 77 78, Kym Larratt (ENG) 80 75, Kiran Matharu (ENG) 78 77, Laurette Maritz (ZAF) 76 79, Margherita Rigon (ITA) 77 78
156 – Lucy Williams (ENG) 78 78, Chrisje De Vries (NLD) 78 78, Jessica Yadloczky (USA) 76 80, Sahra Hassan (WAL) 75 81
157 – Stacy Lee Bregman (ZAF) 76 81, Mireia Prat (ESP) 79 78, Dawn Shockley (USA) 74 83, Laura Cabanillas (ESP) 78 79, Liebelei Lawrence (LUX) 78 79, Valentine Derrey (FRA) 73 84, Julie Greciet (FRA) 76 81, Becky Morgan (WAL) 75 82
158 – Steffi Kirchmayr (GER) 81 77, Maria Beautell (ESP) 82 76, Karen Lunn (AUS) 74 84, Sophie Sandolo (ITA) 82 76
159 – Helen Alfredsson (SWE) 80 79, Caroline Westrup (SWE) 80 79, Klara Spilkova (CZE) 79 80, Elizabeth Bennett (ENG) 80 79, Danielle Mcveigh (IRL) 80 79, Lisa Holm Sorensen (DNK) 78 81, Stephanie Na (AUS) 78 81, Rebecca Codd (IRL) 84 75
160 – Clare Queen (SCO) 81 79, Zuzana Kamasova (SVK) 82 78, Louise Stahle (SWE) 78 82
161 – Titiya Plucksataporn (THA) 83 78, Lydia Hall (WAL) 78 83
162 – Martina Eberl-ellis (GER) 84 78, Sharmila Nicollet (IND) 83 79, Nicole Gergely (AUT) 81 81
163 – Frances Bondad (AUS) 78 85
164 – Nina Syvertsen Reis (SWE) 84 80, Rebecca Artis (AUS) 82 82
166 – Lynn Kenny (SCO) 82 84
167 – Yasemin Sari (TUR) 84 83
168 – Eleanor Givens (ENG) 85 83
RTD: Lynnette Brooky (NZL), Tara Davies (WAL), Benedicte Toumpsin (BEL)
