Woodstock, Ont. – Team Canada’s Brooke Henderson carded a 4-under 67 at Craigowan Golf and Country Club to jump into the lead at the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship on Wednesday.
Henderson opened her second round with a 3-under 32 and followed it with back-nine birdies on the par-5 13th and par-4 17th holes to grab the outright lead at 5-under 137. The 16-year-old has played near flawless golf since opening the tournament with an over-par front-nine on Tuesday.
“It was a tough start yesterday being 3-over through eight holes but then I went 4-under the rest of the way which was really huge,” said Henderson, the defending champion. “I had a couple of moments yesterday that really saved my round and I think that really saved my tournament. Going into today I knew I had momentum and I just wanted to keep that going.”
With that momentum the Smiths Falls, Ont. native currently sits one-stroke clear of her teammate Augusta James of Bath, Ont. and Liz Breen of Waynesboro, Pa., who share second place at 4-under 138 at the conclusion of Wednesday’s windy second round.
“It was much tougher today, we were here bright and early and it was quite a bit colder from past days so the ball wasn’t quite flying as far,” Henderson continued. “The wind also really picked up especially in the middle of my round, I was hitting four clubs more than what I normally do.”
James battled back during her closing nine, carding birdies on her final two holes to finish with an even-par 71. Breed held the outright lead for a short time on the back-nine before bogeying two of her last six holes to finish tied with James.
Australia’s Su-Hyun Oh posted a 2-over 73 to finish in solo fourth at 2-under 140, while Megan Osland of Kelowna, B.C. and California’s Betty Chen share fifth place at 1-under par.
In the Inter-Provincial Team competition, the Team Ontario contingent of Henderson, James and Brittany Marchand of Orangeville, Ont., soared away from the field to capture the team title. The squad fired a 5-under 137 to finish 15 strokes ahead of Team Alberta in the 36-hole competition at 10-under par.
In the Mid-Amateur division (25+), Christina Proteau of Port Alberni, B.C. posted a 6-over 77 to card a two-round total of 153. Proteau currently sits three strokes ahead of Helene Chartrand of Pincourt, Que. In the Mid-Master division, Chartrand, the defending champion, fired a second round 1-under 70 and currently sits one-stroke ahead of Marion Reid of Etobicoke, Ont. at 11-over 153.
The champion of the 101st Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship receives an exemption into the 2014 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open and also the 2014 U.S. Women’s Amateur.
Starting times, post-round results, full field list, and live scoring are available here.
Henderson in front at Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship
