Australia and Thailand posted a pair of 10-under 134’s to surge into a three-way tie with Spain halfway through the 30th Women’s World Amateur Team Championship at Abu Dhabi Golf Club. The Aussies and the Thais jumped six spots on the leader board for a share of the top spot at 13-under 275 after Round 2.
The Australian duo of Maddison Hinson-Tolchard and 2023 South Australia Women’s Amateur champion Justice Bosio combined for 10 birdies and no bogeys. Hinson-Tolchard, a senior at Oklahoma State University who won the Big 12 Conference individual title last spring, led the Aussies with a 6-under 66.
Navaporn Soontreeyapas led a late-afternoon charge for Thailand, birdieing four of her final seven holes to post a 7-under 65, the lowest round of the competition thus far. Soontreeyapas, the 2023 Singapore Open Amateur champion, holds a two-shot advantage on the individual leaderboard at 10-under-par 134.
Thailand, which finished tied for 20th a year ago in France, added a bogey-free, 3-under 69 from Suvichaya Vinijchaitham.
Spain’s Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio, who holds a World Amateur Golf Ranking®/WAGR® of No. 2, and Julia Ramirez, No. 5 in WAGR®, both posted 69s, while teammate Carla Bernat Escuder added a non-counting 70. Spain, which held the first-round lead by one stroke, is the only team with all three players inside the top 10 of the championship’s individual scoring.
The Republic of Korea remains in solo fourth place at 11-under 277, two shots off the leaders, with England and the United States of America sharing fifth at 7-under 281.
After starting the day in 17th position, England made the biggest move among the morning wave behind a 5-under 67 from Caley McGinty, a redshirt senior at Ohio State University, and a 2-under 70 from world No. 9 Lottie Woad. After opening with a 77 on Wednesday, McGinty, a member of the last two Great Britain and Ireland Curtis Cup Teams, rattled off six birdies in windy morning conditions, including three of the four par-3s.
The USA added a 4-under 68 from world No. 6 Anna Davis and a 71 from Rachel Kuehn, who is competing in her third WWATC and her second as a member of the USA team following a silver-medal finish last year in France.
Canada, which began the day one stroke off the lead in solo second, posted an even-par 144 to position itself in a tie for seventh with India and Germany.
“They’re doing a great job staying steady and giving themselves opportunities,” said Canadian Captain Salimah Mussani. “That’s kind of our theme for the week is ‘give yourself opportunities.’ There’s 18 a day so take advantage of as many as you can.”
2022 U.S. Women’s Amateur runner-up Monet Chun of Richmond Hill, Ont. and 2023 Canadian Women’s Amateur champion Lauren Kim of Surrey, B.C. both recorded rounds of even par 72 to remain at 3-under for the tournament and are both T10 in the individual standings. Katie Cranston of Oakville, Ont. finished the day with a 3-over 75 and is at 5-over after 36-holes.
Quotable:
Captain Salimah Mussani, Canada: “In the morning, the conditions were a little tougher. It was obviously raining and a lot windier and gusting from different directions, but I think they managed pretty good. A lot of positives going into the weekend. It’s nice that there’s two days left for sure.”
Notable:
- Thailand’s Soontreeyapas (10-under) leads the individual scoring by two strokes over Kyorim Seo, of the Republic of Korea, and Avani Prashanath, of India. Prashanath posted her second straight bogey-free 68 on Thursday. She is the only player in the field yet to make a bogey or worse.
- Eila Galitsky celebrated her 17th birthday on Thursday with a non-counting 2-under 70 for co-leading Thailand. Galitsky won the 2023 Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific and competed in three professional majors this year, including a low-amateur (T28) finish in the Chevron Championship in April.
- Grace Pauline Quintanilla made the only eagle on Day 2. Quintanilla made a 3 on the par-5 8th hole en route to a 1-over 73 for the Philippines.
- The United States of America is seeking to win the Espirito Santo and the Eisenhower trophies together in the same year for the eighth time. The U.S. is the only country to accomplish this feat and last did so in 1984. Last week, the American team of Nick Dunlap, David Ford and Gordon Sargent won the men’s championship by 11 strokes.
- The National Course at Abu Dhabi Golf Club is playing to a yardage of 6,497 yards/5,940 meters this week for the Espirito Santo Trophy, which makes it the longest course in WWATC history.
- Thursday was the coolest day of the week thus far at Abu Dhabi Golf Club and included the first precipitation. Light to moderate rain trickled in and out of the area throughout the morning with wind gusts up to 26 mph, while temperatures hovered between 25-30 degrees Celsius (77-86 degrees Fahrenheit).
What’s Next:
Round 3 begins Friday at 6:30 a.m. local time with a two-tee start on the National Course.
Results from Thursday’s second round of the 2023 Women’s World Amateur Team Championships, played at par-72 Abu Dhabi Golf Club (National Course), in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
T1 Thailand 141-134–275
Suvichaya Vinijchaitham 72-69–141
Navaporn Soontreeyapas 69-65–134
Eila Galitsky 72-70—142
T1 Australia 141-134–275
Justice Bosio 69-68–137
Maddison Hinson-Tolchard 72-66–138
Caitlin Peirce 77-73—150
T1 Spain 137-138–275
Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio 68-69–137
Carla Bernat Escuder 70-70–140
Julia Lopez Ramirez 69-69—138
4 Republic of Korea 140-137–277
Minsol Kim 73-70–143
Hyosong Lee 71-70–141
Kyorim Seo 69-67—136
T5 United States of America 142-139–281
Anna Davis 73-68–141
Rachel Kuehn 70-71–141
Megan Schofill 72-73—145
T5 England 144-137–281
Charlotte Heath 72-76–148
Caley McGinty 77-67–144
Lottie Woad 72-70—142
T7 Germany 140-142–282
Helen Briem 72-69–141
Chiara Horder 69-74–143
Celina Sattelkau 71-73—144
T7 India 140-142–282
Mannat Brar 72-74–146
Nishna Patel 75-80–155
Avani Prashanth 68-68—136
T7 CANADA 138-144–282
Monet Chun 69-72–141
Katie Cranston 74-75–149
Lauren Kim 69-72—141
T10 Scotland 141-142–283
Hannah Darling 70-72–142
Carmen Griffiths 71-70–141
Lorna McClymont 73-73—146
T10 New Zealand 148-135–283
Eunseo Choi 74-68–142
Vivian Lu 74-71–145
Fiona Xu 74-67—141
T10 Chinese Taipei 144-139–283
Hsin Chun Liao 72-72–144
Huai-Chieu Hsu 72-68–140
Ting-Hsuan Huang 76-71—147
13 Ireland 139-145–284
Sara Byrne 68-75–143
Beth Coulter 71-77–148
Aine Donegan 74-70—144
14 Norway 143-142–285
Anna Krekling 74-74–148
Mia Lussand 70-76–146
Silje Torvund Ohma 73-68—141
15 Japan 145-141–286
Mizuki Hashimoto 77-69–146
Mamika Shinchi 68-73–141
Miku Ueta 78-72—150
16 Hong Kong, China 145-142–287
Sophie Han 74-71–145
Arianna Lau 71-71–142
Hoi Ki Lau 79-74—153
T17 Colombia 142-147–289
Ana Sofía Murcia 71-72–143
Cristina Ochoa 71-76–147
María Hoyos 71-75—146
T17 Mexico 144-145–289
Lauren Olivares 75-73–148
Cory Lopez 73-79–152
Vania Alicia Simont 71-72—143
T17 Morocco 144-145–289
Rim Imni 80-72–152
Sofia Cherif Essakali 70-73–143
Malak Bouraeda 74-77—151
T17 Sweden 142-147–289
Kajsa Arwefjall 71-74–145
Meja Ortengren 71-73–144
Ingrid Lindblad 71-75—146
T17 Philippines 143-146–289
Junia Louise Gabasa 69-73–142
Rianne Malixi 74-74–148
Grace Pauline Quintanilla 80-73—153
22 Italy 143-147–290
Natalia Aparicio 70-72–142
Francesca Fiorellini 73-75–148
Matilde Partele 75-82—157
23 Czechia 143-148–291
Veronika Kedronova 73-75–148
Patricie Mackova 71-73–144
Denisa Vodickova 72-75—147
24 France 146-146–292
Adela Cernousek 72-72–144
Vairana Heck 75-74–149
Louise Uma Landgraf 74-74—148
T25 South Africa 149-144–293
Megan Streicher 76-73–149
Kajal Mistry 76-74–150
Caitlyn Macnab 73-71—144
T25 Singapore 145-148–293
Aloysa Atienza 73-82–155
Inez Ng 72-70–142
Xingtong Chen 75-78—153
27 People’s Republic of China 152-142–294
Tong An 80-73–153
Xinyu Cao 73-69–142
Zixin Ni 79-78—157
T28 Netherlands 147-148–295
Rosanna Boere 75-77–152
Anne den Dunnen 72-71–143
Lynn van der Sluijs 77-78—155
T28 Switzerland 144-151–295
Caroline Sturdza 71-82–153
Yana Beeli 77-75–152
Victoria Levy 73-76—149
T30 Denmark 151-146–297
Olivia Grønborg 76-71–147
Natacha Host Husted 78-77–155
Cecilie Leth-Nissen 75-75—150
T30 Belgium 144-153–297
Sophie Bert 71-77–148
Savannah De Bock 73-76–149
Celine Manche 73-78—151
T30 Finland 148-149–297
Katri Bakker 75-74–149
Emilia Vaisto 75-75–150
Henni Mustonen 73-78—151
33 United Arab Emirates 150-153–303
Lara El Chaib 74-77–151
Intissar Rich 76-76–152
Jamie Camero 78-77—155
34 Pakistan 151-156–307
Parkha Ijaz 78-78–156
Humna Amjad 73-78–151
Rimsha Ijaz 84-84—168
35 Chile 153-161–314
Carolina Alcaino 75-84–159
Michelle Melandri 78-77–155
Amelia Ruiz 78-88—166
36 Bolivia 162-164–326
Florencia Cuellar G. 87-83–170
Connie Quiroga 80-86–166
Victoria Suarez 82-81–163