After finishing her round on the 18th hole during the second round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur at Champions Retreat, Lottie Woad from England grinned widely alongside her caddie. She holds a two-shot advantage going into the final stage at Augusta National.
Starting off the second round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur at Champions Retreat, Lottie Woad stumbled with a double bogey on the opening hole. The 20-year-old golfer from Farnham, England managed to recover slightly with a birdie on the fourth hole but then encountered back-to-back setbacks by scoring consecutive bogeys on holes six and seven.
Woad, a sophomore at Florida State ranked fourth in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, expressed surprise at leading after being three over through eight holes today. Despite the difficulty of the course, Woad was determined to persevere and stay competitive.
Due to a stronger wind compared to the first round, there were only five scores that finished under par. Woad managed four birdies within the last 10 holes and achieved a score of one-under 71, bringing her total score to five-under. This puts her two points ahead of Gianna Clemente and Maisie Filler in the standings.
Woad commented that it was likely one of the best under shots he had taken in a long time.
Despite a shaky beginning, the highest-rated non-professional player Ingrid Lindblad managed to score par on her final 13 holes and completed with a total of 76 shots. She currently trails by four strokes behind the leader.
Although the top of the leaderboard is important, this occasion holds deeper significance. The chase for making the cut always heightens tension since all 72 players will practice at Augusta National Golf Club on Friday, but only those who succeed in making it past the cut line play during Saturday’s final round lasting 18 holes.
A total of 35 players qualified for the cut, including a group of 13 who are tied at three-over-par and currently holding the 23rd position. This particular group comprises some significant names in women’s amateur golf such as Emilia Migliaccio – she has participated in all five ANWA events; Amari Avery- USC junior All-American and member of U.S Curtis Cup team (2022); Rachel Kuehn-a Four-time All-American player from Wake Forest with two Curtis Cups under her belt; Asterisk Talley-the youngest player at just fifteen years old, but already a two-time finalist in Drive, Chip and Putt National competitions.
“Prepare yourself for the course and have fun,” Talley advised regarding her upcoming Friday practice round at Augusta National. “It’s my first time playing here, so I’ll give it my all and hope to improve enough on Saturday.”
As the 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion and current Auburn freshman, Davis received a penalty of one stroke for slow-play on hole seventeen. Despite scoring 78, she missed the cut by only one shot. This is not her first encounter with rules incidents at this event; in the previous year, Davis was assessed two separate penalties of two strokes each for playing lift, clean and place outside its application to balls lying exclusively on fairways or greens.
A Stanford senior, Heck has already made three appearances in ANWA. For four years now, she’s been recognized as one of the top amateur players nationwide and has even played for Curtis Cup while snagging two NCAA Championships- one individually and one with her Cardinal team.