Q School Stage Two at Halfway

Saturday saw plenty of good scoring as the Second Stage of Qualifying School continued at La Manga, El Valle, Costa Ballena and Las Colinas.

England’s Graeme A Clark continued his fine start to the Second Stage of Qualifying School at La Manga Club by following yesterday’s stunning seven under par 66 with a solid 69 to tie for the lead after today’s second round.

Clark made a perfect start in Cartagena with a birdie at the par four first hole and after making eight straight pars on the remainder of the front nine the Yorkshireman made further birdies at the tenth, 13th, 16th and 18th holes, with the only blemish coming in the form of a bogey at the par four 15th hole.

Italian Andrea Perrino was one shot of the pace after Friday’s round but today posted an excellent five under par 68 to join Clark in a tie for the lead at 11 under par in a round that featured seven birdies and two bogeys.

After shooting a stunning eight under par 65, Argentina’s Clodomiro Carranza propelled himself into sole possession of third place at ten under par, while one shot further back are Englishman Sam Matton and American Scott Pinckney.

Allan Versfield, joint leader with Clark after the first round, signed for a two over par 75 leaving the South African tied for tenth place at five under par.

Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren retains a narrow lead at the top at El Valle Golf Resort after adding a two under par 69 to yesterday’s course record of 63.

Lagergren, 20, is one shot clear of the field at the halfway point of the event and could have been even further ahead but for a string of three bogeys at the 14th, 15th and 16th holes. However, birdies at the second, seventh, ninth, 11th and 18th holes helped the Challenge Tour member to ten under par going into tomorrow’s third round.

Englishman David J Smith followed yesterday’s 65 with a three under par 68 to sit one shot off the lead in a round that included four back-to-back birdies from the 14th to the 17th, while his fellow countryman Daniel Brooks is a further shot back after posting an excellent second round 66.

At ten over par, James Maw hasn’t had much to smile about until the Englishman made a hole in one at the 202-yard par three sixth with an inch-perfect four iron.

Sam Hutsby produced a superb six under par 66 to lead by two shots after the second round at the Costa Ballena Ocean Club.

Hutsby, who narrowly missed out on a place at the Challenge Tour Grand Final after finishing 48th in the 2011 Challenge Tour rankings, carded six birdies, including four on the back nine, in what was a flawless round that took the Englishman to nine under par.

Hutsby’s fellow countryman Jason Levermore stormed into a share of second place at seven under par after signing for an excellent seven under par 65, along with Frenchman Xavier Poncelet who carded a five under par 67 to supplement yesterday’s 70, while one shot further back at the halfway stage in Jerez is another Englishman, Luke Goddard, who today shot a four under par 68. 

It was tough going for yesterday’s co-leaders, though, as former amateur World Number One carded a three over par 75 to slip to a tie for 27th place, while Pedro Oriol and Wade Ormsby both hit one under par 71s to sit four shots off the pace ahead of Sunday’s third round.

England’s Ben Barham stormed into a two shot lead at Las Colinas Golf and Country Club after shooting an immaculate five under par 66 in the second round.

Barham, a two-time winner on the Challenge Tour, carded birdies at the third, fifth, sixth, tenth and 16th holes in an unblemished bogey-free round to complete a pair of 66s over the first two days in Alicante.

The Netherlands’ Tim Sluiter shot a best of the day 65 to sit two shots behind Barham at the halfway stage in what was a fine round that included a superb eagle at the par five third hole and four birdies at the ninth, 13th, 16th and 18th holes.

Meanwhile, a further two shots back going into Sunday’s third round is South Korea’s Byeong-Hun An who today produced a five under par 66.

Over 300 players, across four venues in the south of Spain, are this week bidding for a place in the Final Stage of Qualifying School due to be held at PGA Catalunya, Spain, from December 10-15.

With the Second Stage being played alongside the penultimate event of The European Tour season in Hong Kong, the number of exempt places is set to be finalised on Sunday evening and the exact number of qualifying spots from Second Stage will be determined and published following this, however there will be a minimum of 16 spots available at each venue.