Samantha Richdale
In 54 rounds this year on the Symetra Tour, Samantha Richdale managed to break 70 just 10 times. Of those 10 sub-70 rounds, the lowest the Kelowna, B.C. golfer managed to score was 67. On Thursday, during the second round of the LPGA Qualifying Tournament, Richdale fired a 6-under 66 on the Hills Course to move into a tie for third, two back of co-leaders Ju Young Park and Casey Grice.
After a bogey on the third hole, Richdale birdied three of the next four holes and seven of the next 13 to make her climb up the leaderboard, cutting five strokes off Wednesday's first round score.
SooBin Kim of Coquitlam, B.C., a senior at the University of Washington, carded a second straight round of 71 to leave her tied for 23rd.
Sue Kim of Langley, B.C. shot 73 on the Hills course to slip down into a tie for 39th.
Rebecca Lee-Bentham of Toronto also stumbled on the Hills Course, carding a round of 74 to fall from 15th down to 39th on Thursday.
Sara-Maude Juneau of Fossambault, Que., also shot 74 to fall into a tie for 48th.
Augusta James of Bath, Ont. shot an even par round of 72 on the Hills Course to move up into a tie for 95th, one stroke better than Brogan McKinnon (74) of Mississuaga, Ont., Maude-Aimee Leblanc (73) of Sherbrooke, Que. and Jennifer Kirby (73) of Paris, Ont.
Brittany Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., with younger sister Brooke on the bag, played even par through her first 10 holes before three consecutive bogeys contributed to a round of 74, leaving her in a tie for 122nd. Nicole Vandermade of Brantford, Ont. also shot 74 to sit a further stroke back.
Lorie Kane of Charlottetown had another humbling day, this time on the Hills Course. The four-time LPGA Tour winner was 6-over through an eight hole stretch en route to a 76. She failed to make up any ground, remaining tied for 145th in the 153 player field.
One of the biggest movers of the day was English teen Charley Hull, who got herself back in the mix with a round of 69 on Thursday. That left the 37th ranked player in the world tied for 39th.
Jennifer Gleason, playing in only her second competitive round of golf since undergoing two surgeries, made a hole-in-one on hole six of the Jones Course on Thursday. It was her fifth career hole-in-one and helped her to round of 68 which leaves her in a tie for ninth.
After turning in a solid sub-par round on Wednesday, Cheyenne Woods looked more like her more famous uncle on Thursday, struggling to a 7-over 79. Along with three birdies, Woods also had four bogeys and three double bogeys to go from a tie for fifth and in line for a full time tour card down to a tie for 80th and in danger of missing the fourth round cut.
The top 70 and ties after Saturday's fourth round will go on to play for one of 20 full-time Tour cards in Sunday's final round. Players finishing 21st through 45th will earn conditional status for 2015.