Overnight leaders maintain momentum on Day 2

Avondale’s Jye Pickin leads the Men’s field for the second straight day in the Avondale Amateur following two rounds of 5 under par 66. He leads Andrea Lautee (Kingston Heath) by 3 shots after a consistent round of 69 from the Victorian in good scoring conditions.  Recently crowned the Jack Newton Junior Golf Foundation’s Male Golfer of the year, Pickin was again able to put his home course knowledge to great effect with 7 birdies alongside 2 dropped shots. A birdie-birdie start on 10 and 11 was bookended with two closing birdies on 8 and 9. A 10 foot par putt on the short par 5 7th was the key to his round, maintaining his momentum towards the Clubhouse.

“There’s a certain expectation on your shoulders to play well” said Pickin, in reference to the experience of playing a major event on one’s home course. “It’s sort of a weird feeling to see all of these guys I’ve been playing with over the past month at your Home Club”, said Pickin before declaring “there’s a little bit of advantage”.

Defending Champion Blake Windred is lurking 5 strokes back (67), alongside fellow NSW State Team Member Jordan Garner (66) and Emerald Lakes’ Lewis Hoath (66). The round of the day belonged to Avondale Member William Bayliss, who almost aced the 2nd hole on his way to a 65.

In the Women’s field, overnight co-leader Hye Park (Royal Pines) continues to impress after a  2 under par 70 which featured an Eagle on the Par 5 14th. The South Korean born Park leads by 1 over 16 year old South Korean Kumkang Park who shot 69.

New Zealander Caryn Khoo is 2 shots further back, after the low round of the day with a 68. Local hope Grace Kim is joined by 4 others in the chasing pack, 5 behind Park at +2.

The field was cut at +5 for the Men and +9 for the Women’s field, with the gnarly rough around the bushland course proving troublesome at times.

The field will commence the third round at 7.00am Thursday, with the final group beginning at 11.48am. Spectators are of course most welcome.
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