Victoria鈥檚 Naomi Ko has secured the lead midway through the Canadian Junior Girls Golf Championship at The Links at Penn Hills in Nova Scotia.
The Royal Colwood and national amateur team member turned in a bogey-free, 5-under 67 on Wednesday to sit at 6-under 138 after two days, three shots clear of Mary Parsons of Delta, who is alone in second.
鈥淭he weather was nice and the greens were holding up better today, everything was pretty solid,鈥� said Ko. 鈥淢y ball-striking was pretty good and I hit a lot of greens, which helps. There were a couple of putts that slipped a bit, but I鈥檒l take a 5-under any day.鈥�
Akari Hayashi of Uplands Golf Club struggled to an 81 and now is tied for 22nd with three others, including Shirin Ajarwalla of Nanaimo (78-75). Megan Ratcliffe of Qualicum Beach and Abigail Rigsby of Courtenay also made the two-day cut.
Meanwhile, at the Canadian Junior Boys鈥� event at Clovelly Golf Club in Nova Scotia, Duncan鈥檚 Callum Davison is second heading into today鈥檚 final round.
Davison鈥檚 even-par 72 on Wednesday leaves him at a 3-under total, two shots in arrears to leader Thomas Critch 鈥� a resident of Cedar Park, Texas, but a dual citizen 鈥� who fired a 5-under 67 on the day.
Keaton Gudz of Royal Colwood is tied for sixth at 1-over and clubmate and sa国际传媒 amateur and Summer Games champion Nolan Thoroughgood is another two shots back, tied for 10th.
Kyle Leiman of Victoria is tied for 12th at 4-over par. Mill Bay鈥檚 Tristan Mandur also made the cut and is tied for 42nd while Courtenay鈥檚 Kolten Almgren is tied for 52nd.
