Nuria Iturrios from Spain holds a two shot lead in the second round of the Pacific Bay Resort Australian Ladies Classic – Bonville after carding a stunning 67 in wind and rain.
Despite playing in the worst of the conditions, the 23-year-old from Palma de Mallorca carded five birdies and posted one of only four under par rounds at Bonville Golf Resort on Friday morning, the others all being rounds of one-under.
Iturrios said: “36 holes with no bogeys. I’m feeling so good! I’m feeling comfortable with my game, so let’s see. Hopefully 36 holes more.”
At eight-under-par, she ended the morning two strokes clear of the overnight leader Doey Choi, the NSW amateur who was yet to tee off and dropped two shots in her first three holes.
Madelene Sagstrom, Hannah Green, Whitney Hillier, Brooke Baker, Marianne Skarpnord and Sarah Kemp are the other top players in contention.
Iturrios has been out of the spotlight since winning her sole LET title at the 2016 Lalla Meryem Cup at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Morocco as a rookie professional. Last year, she recorded two top 20 finishes with her best result being a tie for 14th in the season-ending Costa del Sol Andalucia Open de Espana, but she holds fond memories from playing in Bonville, where she shared 34th spot last year.
She has changed her swing over the winter to hit a lower shot, which helped her to control the ball in the wet and blustery conditions.
“I made three or four birdies in that wind, so I’m feeling so great. I’ll just keep hitting those low balls,” she said.
“I love to be in this position. Finally I have the cameras around me again! I’m going to have some mango sticky rice tonight and sleep well.”
It was the tail-end of her round which caught the eye. She went out in 34, after a single birdie on the long seventh, but came home in 33 with four birdies on the back nine.
She completed the round with a 15 foot birdie putt on the 16th and had another good chance from 10 feet on the 17th, before converting her birdie putt from short distance on the par-5 18th. It was a great result, considering that she had hit her tee shot left into the trees.
It was also a successful morning for fellow Spanish player Silvia Banon, the next best player in the clubhouse on one-under-par, who shot a second round of 72.
Sweden’s Daniela Holmqvist carded a four-over-par 76 to be the third best placed player in the clubhouse on level par overall, demonstrating how tough the conditions proved.
