Lottie Woad made a double bogey on the opening hole Thursday to start the second round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur at Champions Retreat. The 20-year-old from Farnham, England made a birdie on the fourth hole but then rattled off consecutive bogeys on the sixth and seventh holes.
Woad leads by two shots.
“I didn’t think I’d be leading when I was three over through eight today,” said Woad, a sophomore at Florida State who is ranked No. 4 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. “Just trying to hang in there with it being so difficult.”
With the wind whipping much more than it did during the first round, there were only five scores under par. Woad made four birdies over the last 10 holes to shoot one-under 71 and stands at five-under total. She’s two ahead of Gianna Clemente and Maisie Filler.
“Probably one of the best one unders I’ve shot in a long time,” Woad said.
The solo leader entering Saturday's final round.#ANWAgolf pic.twitter.com/3CQSWIqVaD
— Augusta National Women's Amateur (@anwagolf) April 4, 2024
Top-ranked amateur, Ingrid Lindblad, got off to a rocky start but made par on her last 13 consecutive holes to shoot 76. She’s four off the lead.
This event, however, is about more than just the top of the leaderboard. The race for the cut is always so dramatic because, while every player in the 72-person field will play a practice round at Augusta National Golf Club on Friday, only those who make the cut compete for the final 18-holes on Saturday.
In all, 35 players made the cut, including 13 who are tied for 23rd place at three-over-par total. Among that group are some of the more well-known names in the women’s amateur game: Emilia Migliaccio, 24, is the only player in the field who has competed in all five ANWA events; USC junior Amari Avery, an All-American and member of the 2022 U.S. Curtis Cup team; Four-time All-American at Wake Forest Rachel Kuehn, who has played in two Curtis Cups; Asterisk Talley, who, at 15, is the youngest player in the field. She is a two-time participant in the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals.
“Definitely get used to the course, enjoy it,” Talley said about her upcoming Friday practice round at Augusta National. “It’s first impression, so just try and play my best, and I hope I can improve my game to get it up for Saturday.”
Asterisk Talley, 15, is the youngest player in the field. She made the cut and will play Saturday at Augusta National.
David Cannon
Two of the biggest heartbreaks came from Anna Davis and Rachel Heck.
Davis is the 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion who is now a freshman at Auburn. She was assessed a one-stroke penalty for slow-play on the 17th hole. She shot 78 and missed the cut by one shot. It marks the second year Davis was caught in a rules episode at this event. Last year she received two separate two-stroke penalties for playing lift, clean and place in the rough, when the rule only applied to a ball that was in the fairway.
Heck is a senior at Stanford and was making her third ANWA appearance. She’s been one of the best amateur players in the U.S. for four years, playing in the Curtis Cup and winning two NCAA Championships—one as an individual and one as part of the Cardinal team.
She also made headlines recently when she announced that she was going to stay an amateur and would not be pursuing a professional career in golf.
On Thursday at Champions Retreat, she played the last three holes in four over par to miss the cut by one shot.
“It’s not the way you want to see it end,” Heck said. “Got super windy out there and I just didn’t play super well in that.
“I felt really confident with my game the whole time. Felt good over every shot. Just wasn’t quite working out there, so tough to see it end like that.”
Others missing the cut: Zoe Campos (three college wins at UCLA), Latanna Stone (T-2 at ANWA in 2022), Yana Wilson (2022 U.S. Girls’ Junior champion) and Megan Schofill (2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur winner).
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
