(21 January 2010 – Moss Vale, NSW)
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Victoria&aposs Vicky Thomas shot to a three shot lead today, with one round to go tomorrow, at the Moss Vale Golf Club Ladies Classic, sponsored by Corban Automotive, Wollongong. Thomas, fired a flawless course-record 8-under par 65, which included six birdies and an eagle to take a handy lead into the final round. Hot on her heels will be last-start winner Katherine Hull, whose 5-under par 68 included 7 birdies and two bogeys. In a tie for third are Sydney’s Joanne Mills and New Zealand rookie Cathryn Bristow.
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Thomas, at 5pm yesterday looked a doubtful starter, after a fellow player collected her on the ankle on the practice range. After her round she said, “Basically, I was just happy to get through the 18 holes…the more I walked and warmed up, the better I got”. Her score was really formed with a strong stretch of five holes between the 11th and 15th. After starting on the 7th, she made four straight pars, then sunk birdie putts of 20 feet on 11, 10 feet on 13 and 30 feet on the 14th. She moved to 5-under with an eagle on the par-5 13th, adding birdies at the 1st, 3rd and 5th holes for a fantastic round of golf. She added, “I played great, I hit my driver well all day, hit 16 greens and really didn’t put myself into any danger”.
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Hull continued her good early-season form from her win at Russell Vale on Tuesday. Her score was also made on the back nine with five birdies and a bogey. In an ominous sign for Thomas, one of Hull’s bogeys was on the par-5 4th hole and she said as much, “I’m in with a chance. If I play the par-5’s a bit better, I hope to go even lower tomorrow. But full credit to Vicky, that’s a great score.”
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Bristow, looking to get into the Major tournaments, did herself no harm with her best pro-round of 3-under par 70. That was matched by Joanne Mills who led the morning field. There are also a host of players at 1-under 72 in the hunt including the NSW trio of Rebecca Flood, Karen Quinn and Rachel Bailey and Korea’s Sae Park.
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For round 1 scores click here.