Australian Junior Amateur: Edwards and Singh pull away on day two
Shyla Singh (Golf Australia Photo)
While the strong golf continued, two players stood out amongst the pack on day two of the Australian Junior Amateur at Gosnells Golf Club.
Shyla Singh and
Josiah Edwards both backed up strong opening rounds today and now hold commanding leads over their respective fields at the halfway mark of the tournament.
Singh, who plays her golf out of Southport Golf Club, fired a 3-under 68 today, but the Queenslander revealed she could have gone even lower in the perfect Perth conditions.
"I kind of got things going quick. I was 4-under through ten," she said.
"I made two silly bogeys on the back nine, but then I made a birdie on 18 to get it back to 3-under."
At 5-under, Singh holds a 4-shot lead over second-placed South Australian Raegan Denton. New Zealand pair
Eunseo Choi and Grace Rho are tied for third at 1-over. Singh is currently ranked No. 305 in the
Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com Women's Rankings.
Gosnell local Josiah Edwards separated himself from the chasing pack in a similar fashion to Singh. He was similar in score—he also had 3-under today—and in the manner in which he got there.
Starting his day with four consecutive birdies, Edwards looked as if he might shake his home track record, but a double on seven and only one more birdie put an end to those dreams.
"I scored better today. I made a couple of putts at the start and just kept cool the whole way through," he said.
"I was expecting a little bit lower this week, but I'm still pretty happy with where I am."
Like Singh, Edwards sits atop the leaderboard at 5-under, five shots clear of a trio of chasers. South Australian Josh Grundel, New South Welshman Samuel Cascio, and New Zealander Joshua Bai make up that group T2 at even.
Edwards again had a force of Gosnell's members in tow, and he expects even more for the final two days as he looks to close out a special win at home.
"The fairways will be full," he joked.
Outside of the impressive leaders, day two highlights came from those making moves on the leaderboard and those who bounced back from tough opening rounds.
One of New Zealand's stars, Robby Turnbull, had an 8-over 78 on day one but reminded everyone what he is capable of with a 4-under 66 to get back into contention today.
In a similar fashion, Riversdale Golf Club's Arena Tran produced one of the rounds of the day, a 2-under 69 to get her into a tie for seventh after two rounds.
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ABOUT THE Australian Junior Amateur
The Australian Junior Amateur Championship is open to
players aged under 18 years on the first day of play.
The initial field size is 156 players (105 boys and 51
girls), and it is contested over 72-holes stroke play
(with a cut after 54-holes).
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