Dunne, who hails from Camarillo, Calif., reached 4 under for the tournament, which was good enough to give her a one-shot advantage on fellow California native Ashely Shim entering the final round. Dunne won this event in 2016.
Shim gained considerable ground on the leaderboard when she fired a 6-under 65. It was the best round of the day by three shots. Shim went 4 under in her final six holes. She had top-10 finishes this year at the Rolex Girls Junior Championship and the California Women’s Amateur Championship.
Alabama’s Kenzie Wright, the 2015 Silver Belle champion, and Julie Ju, the first-round leader, are tied for third at 1 under. Wright logged a 1-over 72 in the second round and Ju had a 74.
ROUND 1
Julie Ju came out of the gate at the Arizona Silver Belle hot enough to set up her whole day. The Chandler, Ariz., local went 4 under on the front nine at Longbow Golf Club, then threw out nine consecutive pars on the back nine. She leads the tournament at 4-under 67.
Ju, 18, set up a two-shot lead at the long-running women’s amateur event in Arizona. Behind her, Waverly Whiston, Kenzie Wright and Sophie Zhang-Murphy all posted rounds of 2-under 69 to land in a tie for second.
Three players are tied for fifth after a 1-under 70 at Longbow. That includes Ellen Secor, the Colorado State player who made up one half of the winning U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball duo last spring. Briana Chacon, a talented junior golfer from Whittier, Calif., and Brigitte Dunne, a standout SMU senior, are also at that number. Chacon was fifth at the Silver Belle in 2017.
Defending champion Yealimi Noh is not in the field.