Manon Petitcolas will be the number one seed for the match play stage of the Girls’ Amateur Championship after winning the stroke play qualifying at Alwoodley.
The 16-year-old from France added a three-under 69 to her opening 70 for a five-under aggregate and shared top spot with Sweden’s Ebba Lundqvist. Petitcolas took the medallist honours by virtue of her better second-round score.
At the Boys’ Amateur Championship at nearby Moortown, Denmark’s Mads Heller finished top of the stroke play standings with a three-under total.
That was the same mark as Finland’s Leevi Hellberg but Heller claimed leading qualifier status thanks to a second-round 70 versus Hellberg’s 71.
After 144 leading players from across the world started out at both championships, the top-64 match play stages commence from tomorrow at both Yorkshire venues.
Manon Petitcolas, said of his round “My putting was on fire. That has been the strongest part of my game this week.
My game has improved a lot this year. This is my first appearance in the Championship and I’m proud of myself for getting through.”
Girls’ Amateur Championship
Despite leaking a shot on the opening hole, Petitcolas, who is making her debut in the Girls’ Amateur, responded with purpose and four birdies in six holes from the 3rd fortified her position in the upper reaches of the leaderboard.
A fine approach into the par-5 18th set up an eagle opportunity from distance but Petitcolas was more than happy to finish with a birdie.
Lundqvist, another debutant in the Championship, confirmed her passage through to the knockout phase with a steady one-under 71 for her five-under tally.
The 18-year-old, who goes to the same Swedish school of sporting excellence which helped develop the likes of Ryder Cup star Ludvig Aberg and Solheim Cup player Maja Stark, illuminated her day with a nicely flighted tee-shot into the short 7th which led to a birdie from five feet.
Shrewsbury’s Isla McDonald-O’Brien produced one of the best rounds of the day to progress comfortably.
The 17-year-old, beaten in the semi-finals of the Girls’ Amateur Championship last season, pieced together a neatly assembled, bogey free four-under 68 for a three-under aggregate.
France’s Sara Brentcheneff, the highest-placed player on the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR®), qualified with ease on a two-under total alongside Italy’s Guia Vittoria Acutis, who has already tasted victory in England this month having won the English Girls’ Under-16 Championship.
The Girls’ Amateur Champion this week gains exemptions into Final Qualifying for the AIG Women’s Open, The R&A Women’s Amateur Championship, the US Girls’ Junior Championship and, by tradition, an invitation to compete at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship.
Boys’ Amateur Championship
With outbreaks of rain making matters difficult for the later starters at Moortown, 17-year-old Dane Heller still shone to post three birdies in his one-under-par 70.
A winner of three amateur titles in his homeland this year, Heller just edged out Hellberg, 18, who finished in style with a glorious 28-feet birdie putt. It was an up-and-down round featuring five birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey from the Finn.
Kayden Chang, 18, maintained his consistency to secure third place, the Netherlands player posting a two-under tally after rounds of 69 and 71.
England’s Daniel Hayes, winner of the Carris Trophy this year, enjoyed two solid rounds for a one-under total as the 17-year-old eased into the knockout format. Scotland’s Dominic McGlinchey and Antoni Hawkins from Poland progressed on the same score.
Mads Heller, “It’s really good to be the top qualifier. It’s a hard course, you can see that with the scores with so few people under par so I’m really pleased. You have to hit so many quality shots to score well and plot your way round.
“I hit it very low off the tee and I hit 2-iron everywhere, a low stinger to keep it in play. I just missed out on the cut last year at Ganton so it’s great to do a lot better here.”
Early in the day, England’s Ayden Knight enjoyed a hole-in-one at the par-3 8th on his way to a 71 and a qualifying place.
For the victor this week, exemptions are secured into Final Qualifying for The Open, The Amateur Championship and the US Junior Boys’ Championship.
For full-stroke play qualifying scores from both championships click here
