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<\/p>\nNelson leads R&A Senior Amateur Championship at Frilford Heath<\/p>\n
The R&A <\/p>\n
Tags<\/p>\n Women’s Senior Amateur<\/p>\n Championships<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nelson leads R&A Senior Amateur Championship at Frilford Heath The R&A Danny Nelson of the United States holds…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":683214,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-683213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=683213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683213\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/683214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=683213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=683213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=683213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Sign\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1327764358.jpg\")
Danny Nelson of the United States holds a two-stroke lead ahead of the final 36 holes of The R&A Senior Amateur Championship at Frilford Heath, as he aims to go one better than his runner-up finish at Walton Heath last year.
\nIn the Women\u2019s Senior Amateur Championship, a three-way tie has emerged at the summit. England\u2019s Kerry Smith and Emma Brown share the lead with 2019 champion Lara Tennant of the United States on a two-over-par total of 148.
\nThe 64-year-old Nelson followed his opening 67 on the Blue Course with a one-under-par 71 on the Red Course to post a six-under-par total of 138. England\u2019s John Kemp and overnight co-leader Richard Heath of Australia sit in a tie for second place on four under par.
\n\u201cI got off to a good start,\u201d said Nelson, a native of Savannah, Georgia. \u201cI hit it to two feet on the first, hit it close on the second and was two under quickly. But I wasn\u2019t quite on the button as I was yesterday, then on the back nine I couldn\u2019t get a whole lot going.\u201d
\nWarm weather in Southern England has left the fairways at Frilford Heath firm and fast, testing the 239 competitors representing 22 countries. Conditions remained challenging during the second round, with little wind and temperatures reaching 31\u2103.
\n\u201cI\u2019m used to playing in the heat,\u201d Nelson added. \u201cBut the difference over here is you have to do a lot of math, a lot of factoring because the ground is so hard. For instance, I hit a pitching wedge from 168 yards today. But it\u2019s fun because we don\u2019t play this way back home. I\u2019m obviously happy with my position. Hopefully today was my bad nine and I can keep in front.\u201d
\nKemp surges into contention
\nHeath remains well-placed despite a frustrating finish on the Red Course, where a missed par putt at the last resulted in a one-over-par 73.
\n\u201cI yipped that putt,\u201d the 55-year-old Australian noted. \u201cI\u2019m cross with myself because I set out today to shoot level par.\u201d
\nKemp forced his way into the reckoning by carding the lowest score of the championship so far – a bogey-free, seven-under-par 65 on the Red Course. The 58-year-old Englishman, who finished runner-up at Woodhall Spa three years ago, advanced up the leaderboard<\/a> courtesy of five birdies and an eagle at the par-five sixth.
\n\u201cI got a wee bit petulant yesterday after making a couple of silly mistakes and that cost me,\u201d said Kemp, a member at Woburn Golf Club. \u201cI was much more focused today. I didn\u2019t feel as if I was going to drop any shots.\u201d
\nTrio locked at the top
\nIn the Women’s Senior Amateur Championship, Smith recorded a three-under-par 71 on the Red Course to move into a share of the lead<\/a>. Her round featured just a single dropped shot, alongside two birdies and an eagle at the par-five sixth.
\n\u201cI was quite tidy today,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI holed some putts today whereas I didn\u2019t hole many yesterday on the Blue Course. My game\u2019s in good shape but I never have expectations, so we\u2019ll see what happens over the next two days.\u201d
\nBrown matched the low round of the day on the Blue Course with a two-under-par 70, a feat equalled by 2024 champion Nadene Gole of Australia.
\nThe former Curtis Cup player and 1994 Women\u2019s Amateur champion has a remarkably consistent record in this event, having finished runner-up in 2023 and third in both 2022 and 2024.
\n\u201cI just tried to stay cool today in the heat,\u201d Brown said. \u201cMy golf was steady, nothing spectacular. I have a silver and two bronzes in this tournament. It would be lovely to win this but I\u2019m under no illusions because there are a lot of good golfers here.\u201d
\nTennant joined the English pair at two over par after carding a second consecutive 74, this time on the Red Course.
\n\u201cI made a few putts today and just tried to manage the course as well as I could, just keep patient,\u201d Tennant said.
\nElsewhere, England\u2019s Ian Barker enjoyed a memorable moment on the Blue Course, recording his eighth career hole-in-one at the 167-yard, par-three third hole enroute to a level-par 72. However, an opening 82 meant the 63-year-old missed the halfway cut.
\nView the leaderboards in full after round two:<\/p>\n