Hannah Green and Queensland’s Karis Davidson are tied on top of the Bowra & O’Dea Women’s Classic leaderboard after the opening 36 holes at Lake Karrinyup Country Club.
With an 8-under total, Green and Davidson hold a three shot advantage of Lake Karinyup’s Hannah Thomson, with a sizeable gap between the leading trio and the rest of the field — fronted by defending champion Elizabeth Elmassian of NSW on 4-over par.
Green teed off for her marathon 36 hole day just hours after an intercontinental flight from Portugal, playing last week as a part of the victorious Asia-Pacific team at the Patsy Hankins Trophy.
“I was just hoping for under par,” said Green after sleeping for just an hour and a half after her flight landed at 1:30am.
“I did not expect 5-under this morning, but I’ve always liked Karrinyup and I’ve had a pretty good record here. Knowing what I’ve done on the course especially helped me, as it was so hard to focus today, I’m just so tired today and I can’t wait to go home!”
Green credited playing partner Davidson for keeping her focused and on her game, as the pair remained within close distance throughout their opening two rounds.
“Karis played really well today and I think we lifted each other up,” said Green.
“We made a lot of birdies out there and it was really good to have her there going well. It kind of helped me along as I was just trying to keep up and stay focused out there.”
It’s been four years since Davidson last played the Bowra & O’Dea at Lake Karrinyup, but during that time the Gold Coast junior has emerged as one of the brightest talents in Australian golf, qualifying for the 2014 Australian Amateur final at 15 years old — only to fall to the experienced Minjee Lee.
Green held a one shot advantage over Davidson after the opening 18 holes on 5-under par, but Davidson clawed back the advantage with a bogey free second round – shooting three birdies over her final six holes to tie with Green.
Only Lake Karrinyup’s Hannah Thomson seems a reasonable threat to unseat the pair, shooting rounds of 2-under and 3-under on her home course. A former WA state representative, Thomson has shown that she still has the game to compete, firing six birdies in her opening 11 holes of the second round.
While Green is exhausted, Davidson said she has a lot left in the tank after a long day, taking on the rolling hills of Lake Karrinyup with the help of her battery operated power-caddy.
“I couldn’t’ remember much about Lake Karrinyup so it feels like it’s my first time again. I like it, it’s really nice – especially the greens. The course is in great condition,” said Davidson.
Despite going 8-under for the day, Davidson said she couldn’t think of any memorable shots out on course, crediting her putter for getting her to the top of the leaderboard.
“I played pretty well. I was putting quite well today and I didn’t have any three putts which really helped,” said Davidson.
“Tomorrow I’ll just go out and relax and have fun like I have today. I enjoyed it, the course and the company were great and I had a good group.”