WA’s Josiah Edwards is five clear at the top of the Australian Junior Amateur leaderboard after a sublime second round at Gosnells GC.
The home-club favourite was lying in third place after the first round but hit the ground at a gallop on day two as he carded birdies at all of his opening four holes – including a chip-in on the par-three 4th.
A double-bogey on the par-three 7th threatened to derail his charge, but Edwards kept his game in check to post nine consecutive pars before a fifth and final birdie of the day at the short 17th.
His three-under-par 67 moved Edwards to -5 for the championship and opened up a five-shot gap on the field ahead of Royal Adelaide’s Joshua Grundel, Kiwi Joshua Bai and NSW’s Samuel Cascio.
It could have been tighter at the top had Cascio not treble-bogeyed the 8th – his penultimate hole – to undo much of his good work in a round that contained five birdies and an eagle. Grundel, meanwhile, carded two bogeys and a double in his final five holes to slip off the pace.
Elsewhere in the boys’ event, Royal Perth’s Spencer Harrison continues to go well with his second-round 72 (+2) leaving him in T6th at two-over for the championship, while Ollie Marsh (Wanneroo GC) is T14th at +5 after a 71 today. View the boys’ leaderboard here.
It’s been a harder slog for the WA girls, with our top-placed player, Isabella Leniartek (Mount Lawley GC), sitting T16th at the halfway stage at +7 for the championship, 12 strokes behind runaway leader Shyla Singh.
QLD’s Shyla Singh leads the girls’ championship by four strokes at halfway
Leniartek was one of only a handful of girls to break par on day two with a superb bogey-free 68 (-3), but she finds herself well off the pace nevertheless after her opening round of 81.
Queenslander Singh added a three-under-par 68 to her opening 69 to move into a four-stroke lead ahead of Royal Adelaide’s Raegon Denton. View the girls’ leaderboard here.
The Australian Junior Amateur will conclude on Friday, with the 54-hole cut coming at the end of play on Thursday. At that point, the top 36 players in both fields progress to the final round. Spectators are very welcome to attend.
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