FAIRHAVEN FLOOD MEANS JUNIOR OPEN ROUND 2 WILL BE COMPLETED WEDNESDAY MORNING

Japanese Golf Association committee member Katsuji Hotta and 16-year-old tournament leader, Asuka Kashiwabara shelter from the rain at Fairhaven. Image by Cal Carson Golf Agency.  Top Picture: The flooding on the practice green at Fairhaven in late afternoon gives a fair example of what it was like out on the course and why play was first suspended and later abandoned for the day ... to be resumed with a shotgun start at 9.30am Wednesday. By COLIN FARQUHARSON Colin@scottishgolfview.com The second round of the 54-hole Junior Open will not be completed until Wednesday morning after very heavy rain flooded the Fairhaven GC course late in the afternoon. Play was at first suspended at 4.50pm and the players who were still out on the course in second-round play were called in . Then play was abandoned for the day at 5.20pm when the Met Office forecast was for further heavy rain to continue. At 5.55pm, the R and A organising officials' plan for the remainder of the tournament was announced. The players who have still to complete their second rounds will do so with a shot gun start at 9.30am tomorrow (Wednesday). The number of players qualifying for the third and final round has been cut from 80 and ties to 30 and ties because of a lack of time. The prizegiving on Wednesday is scheduled for 5pm. The third and final round for the reduced number of qualifiers will start at lunchtime. The exact time will depend on how long it takes the second round to be completed. The players who do qualify will play the third round from a two-tee start, i.e. the first and 10th. Clear leader in the clubhouse is 16 year old Japanese girl Asuka Kashiwabara who added a five-under-par 69 to her first round of eight-under-par 66, giving her an astonishing 36-hole tally of 13-under-par 135. Asuka does not speak English. Fortunately, Katsuji Hotta, the Japanese Golf Association, knows enough English to be able to answer questions. Through him we learn that Asuka is on her first visit to Europe. She has a handicap of one and has never played to anything like 13 under par in Japan. She has not had a single bogey in 36 holes round Fairhaven which, with its thigh-high rough, wet and clingy, is remarkable in itself. Her game plan was to leave her driver out of the equation and it has worked to perfection. She has used a three-wood off the tee and hits the ball far enough not to be at a big disadvantage off the tee. She plans to turn professional in two years. No girl has ever won the Junior Open but Asuka is an odds-on favourite to be the first.