Going with the Flo! Parker leads by two
in English women's stroke-play

Lancashire’s Florentyna Parker is seven-under par and the halfway leader of the English women’s strokeplay championship at The Berkshire. She holds a two-shot lead over her fellow Curtis Cup player and defending champion, Jodi Ewart of Yorkshire.
They’re among five players who are below par after two rounds. Florentyna, 19, set the target early in the day when she came in with a four-under 68 to add to her opening 69.
“It was a roller coaster,” said the Royal Birkdale player. “I started bogey, bogey and then made par on an easy par five, which was like another dropped shot. But I got it back with birdies on the 4th and 5th and another one on the 8th, after I’d bogeyed the sixth.”
The roller coaster came to a sharp halt on the back nine, where Flory played immaculate golf with four birdies and five pars. “My golf was so much better in the first round, today I wasn’t so consistent, but I got better towards the end and just took my chances.”
Jodi Ewart soon followed her in with a three-under 69 which put her five-under for the tournament. “I’m very pleased with where I’m placed,” she said. “I like to come from behind.”
The Catterick golfer has been enjoying the positive effects of recently shortening her standard-length putter by two inches. “It was 34 inches and I’m only 5ft 5in and I wasn’t able to control it very well. I decided to get it cut down and it seems to have helped a lot.”
Jodi is a student at New Mexico University and played the second round alongside Hertfordshire’s Hannah Burke who is also at college in the USA, at Baylor, Texas, and also returned a second round 69.
She came home in a sparkling five-under par on the back nine. "I had a couple of bad holes on the front nine but I recovered on the back nine where I put it close and holed a few putts,” said Hannah, who plays at Mid-Herts. Hampshire’s Kerry Smith also returned a sub-par 70 in the second round and is two-under for the tournament.
One shot behind is English champion Hannah Barwood from Knowle in Gloucestershire. Curtis Cup player Liz Bennett (Brokenhurst Manor) and Gloucestershire’s Charlotte Ellis (Minchinhampton) are both on level par, followed by a group which includes Emma Brown of Yorkshire and Holly Aitchison of Bedfordshire.
Gloucestershire’s Sian James (Bristol & Clifton) played one of the most eyecatching shots of the day when she holed a gap wedge on the fifth for an eagle two. It helped her to one-under score of 71 and a 36-hole total of four over.
The youngest player to qualify for the final two rounds of the championship is 13-year-old Lauren Taylor of Rugby who returned impressive scores of 73, 74. The final two rounds will be played tomorrow by the leading 36 players and ties.

LEADING SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
137 Florentyna Parker (Royal Birkdale) 69 68.
139 Jodi Ewart (Catterick) 70 69.
141 Hannah Burke (Mid-Herts) 72 69.
142 Kerry Smith (Waterlooville) 72 70.
143 Hannah Barwood (Knowle) 70 73.
144 Charlotte Ellis (Minchinhampton) 72 72, Liz Bennett (Brokenhurst Manor) 71 73.
145 Emma Brown (Malton & Norton) 74 71, Holly Aitchison (Bedfordshire) 69 76.
147 Ellie Givens (Blackwell Grange) 73 74, Lauren Taylor (Rugby) 73 74, Georgina Dunn (Peterborough Milton) 73 74.
148 Sian James (Bristol & Clifton) 77 71, Olivia Jordan-Higgins 72 76, Rachel Jennings (Izaak Walton) 74 74, Tracey Boyes (Meon Valley) 71 77, Naomi Edwards (Ganton) 71 77.
149 Lisa Ball (Matfen Hall) 74 75, Laura Collin (John O’Gaunt) 75 74, Alison Franklin (Harpenden) 75 74, Sarah Attwood (Gog Magog) 73 76, Hannah Ralph (Cowdray Park) 76 73, Katie Laud (Worplesdon) 76 73, Sian Evans (Faversham) 70 79.
150 Emilee Taylor (Gainsborough) 74 76, Fern Grimshaw (Weymouth) 76 74, Anne Wheble (Dartford) 79, 71.
151 Tara Watters (Muswell Hill) 76 75, Charlotte Wild (Mere) 74, 77.
152 Nikki Dunn (Harrogate) 77 75, Charlotte Dalton (Ladbrook Park) 74 78.
153 Hannah Grant (Enmore Park) 75 78.
154 Rachel Drummond (Beaconsfield) 77 77, Faye Sanderson (Heworth, Durham) 80 74, Nicole Whitmore (Woburn) 77 77, Claire Starkie (Silsden) 76 78.
Lyndsey Hewison
Press & PR Officer