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Girls' Amateur
Brent-Petersen shines at Conwy to take qualifying honours in Girls’ Amateur
12 Aug 25
6 mins
Benedicte Brent-Petersen made hay while the sun shone down on Conwy to claim the number one qualifying position in the Girls’ Amateur Championship.
In the rising temperatures on the North Wales coast, the 18-year-old from Denmark hit her own hot streak with the putter and posted a brilliant eight-under-par 65 for an eight-under aggregate of 138. With overnight frontrunner, Giselle Zhao, slithering off the summit with a late triple-bogey, Brent-Petersen seized top spot, two shots clear of Zhao and the USA’s Sophia Dyer, who had a hole-in-one to qualify in style. After a level-par opening round, Brent-Petersen upped the ante on day two and her display of poise, polish and purpose was highlighted by a raking putt of 35-feet for a birdie on the 16th.Hot putter
“It’s one of my best rounds,” said Brent-Petersen, who also picked up an eagle on the seventh during a surge that saw her cover ten holes in seven-under. “I felt on day one I had some good stuff going but I just couldn’t hole a putt. Today was very different and I holed a lot. I got hot today. I got a bit of luck too with some long ones.” Brent-Petersen may be something of a links golf novice but a run to the last-16 of the Women’s Amateur Championship at Nairn back in June gave her confidence. “Links golf is still pretty new to me, it’s challenging but also exciting,” added the Dane, who won the individual event in the European Nations Cup at Sotogrande earlier in the season. “I’m proud of the way I played.”Dyer ace
Dyer savoured a memorable day as she made an ace on the 15th after her tee-shot with a 9-iron from around 140-yards on the par-3 rolled into the cup. “I saw it go in and it just trickled over the edge,” said the 17-year-old with a smile after a 69 for six-under. “My dad got up and started yelling. It’s my first hole-in-one in a tournament.”
Sophia Dyer managed an ace at the 15th hole at Conwy.
Dyer demonstrated her match play prowess by winning last year’s Florida Amateur Championship and she is relishing another opportunity to test her mettle in the head-to-head format on her first competitive trip to the UK.
“The Florida Amateur was a similar format to this so I know that it can be a long week,” she added. “Hopefully, I can make this week as long as possible.”
Zhao shines
Zhao, who led overnight, had fortified her position at the top by playing 15 holes of round two in three-under. Conwy’s testing closing stretch is full of menace and mischief, though, and she came a cropper on the 16th with a triple-bogey. The 17-year-old had to settle for a 73 and a share of second. “I would have taken that at the start of the week,” she said with a philosophical smile. Zhao’s French team-mate, Melliyal Schmitt, finished a stroke behind on five-under after a tidy, bogey-free 66 while England’s Charlotte Naughton shaved eight shots off her opening 75 with a six-under 67 to jump into the top-ten on a four-under total. The 17-year-old hit a purple patch in the middle of her round and picked up six shots. That profitable push began on the long seventh where she flighted a lovely approach into eight feet and holed the eagle putt.
Charlotte Naughton carded a round of 67 to enter the top ten.