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Overnight co-leader Sharmila Nicollet from India held her nerve and continued to lead after nine holes during the second round of Final Qualifying School on Monday.
The 20-year-old from south of Bangalore mixed two bogeys with three birdies on the front nine to establish a one stroke lead on six under par.
Marjet Van der Graaff from the Netherlands, who played in one the first groups of the day with a 9.30am tee time, grabbed the clubhouse lead on five under after a second round of three under 68 on the North Course.
Playing in cold but dry weather, the 29-year-old from Rÿswÿk near The Hague played steady golf as she fired six birdies and three bogeys.
She said: “I hit some balls close and putted well. It was a boring round, but I like those boring rounds.”
Van der Graaff, a four-year member of the Ladies European Tour, narrowly missed out on retaining her LET card for the 2012 season after finishing 92nd on the 2011 Money List and she also missed out by one place on the LET Access Series, finishing third on the Order of Merit. The top two players earned their cards for 2012.
One of those was the order of merit winner, Marieke Nivard, who won two LETAS tournaments last year and is now on Van der Graaff’s bag this week in Spain.
“It’s always great to have someone you know with you and we have a lot of fun on the course,” Van der Graaff admitted. “It’s nice to have a friend on the bag. It works better for me than a professional caddie because I can do my own stuff and I prefer that.”
Piyathida Ployumsri of Thailand was also at five under par after nine holes, followed by French amateur Alexandra Villatte, Heather Bowie Young of the United States, overnight co-leader Chrisje Vries from Holland and England’s Jodi Ewart a stroke back.
