Clare woman Áine Donegan made a dream debut on her rookie season on the Ladies European Tour by firing a brilliant second round 63 for a 36-holes total of 11-under-par 131 in the Ford Women’s NSW Open at Wollongong links, just south of Sydney.
The 23-year-old from Ennis’s maiden appearance on the LET was delayed due to a waterlogged course on Thursday but Donegan hit the ground running when she finally played her first round on Friday with a 68 and, after a quick turnaround, posted that 63 in her second round to take a two strokes lead over Australian Sarah Kemp.
Donegan, a graduate of Louisiana State and a former member of the Britain and Ireland winning Curtis Cup team who earned her LET card at Q-School last year, showed that amateur pedigree on her professional debut in a second round that featured an eagle, seven birdies and a lone bogey.
Dubliner Anna Foster carded rounds of 72-67 for a 36-holes total of three-under-par 139 and set to comfortably survive the cut which will be made after the second round of the weather-disrupted tournament is completed Saturday.
“It was obviously a dream day,” Donegan said. “I’m a little bit disappointed to finish my second last hole with a bogey, but I’m looking forward to the weekend and yeah, delighted with the start.
“Obviously the weather felt a bit more like home, which I knew would come to my advantage a little bit. I knew some people would struggle in the wind and the rain. So I knew that if I just kind of kept the ball in front of me, especially off the tee on this course, you can kind of attack pins and stuff like that.”