Swede Carin Koch grabs second round lead in rain hampered Deutsche Bank Ladies Swiss Open
The second day of the Deutsche Bank Ladies Swiss Open at the scenic Golf Gerre Losone was again interrupted by heavy rains that washed away the later rounds of the day when organizers moved in to finally call it a day at 5.45 pm.
Sweden’s Carin Koch was among the few fortunate players of the second round, who was able to complete 36 holes, leading the tournament through the halfway mark with her nine-under on the aggregate. She posted a second round of six-under, 66 to edge past
the fast approaching contenders in the €525,000 title, the third biggest purse on Ladies European Tour (LET).
Koch carded six birdies in her bogey free round to summit the leaderboard for the moment but her position will be seriously threatened by the seasoned tour veterans like Laura Davies and Kristie Smith.
“I just played solid golf. I had some drives that weren’t perfect but I hit a lot of good shots and stayed patient. In the end I had four birdies in the last five holes.” said Koch. “We didn’t have any wind on the front nine today and we really didn’t have
any wind yesterday afternoon. Maybe this time we got the good draw.”
The Swedish golfer has been lurking in obscurity for almost the last six years when she last won a title on the tour in 2005 at the Corona Morelia Championship.
Davies has yet to finish her 36 holes to the halfway mark and has already posted an eye-popping five-under after completing her front nine. The 47-year-old pulled in three spectacular birdies and rounded them up with an eagle at par-four, fifth. She is tied
for the second place alongside Frenchwoman Sophie Giquel-Bettan and Kristie Smith with eight-under.
Overnight leader, Australian Karen Lunn was not able to pull in an equally impressive second round and closed her day with one-under, 71. She is now tied for the third place with Stefania Croce with seven-under.
Only 20 players in the field were able to complete their respective rounds when heavy showers and thunderstorms returned to the course at 3.30 pm. After a long wait, and in view of the deteriorated course condition, the match had to be called off.
Joint overnight leader Joanna Klatten, who carded six-under, 66 in the first round, slumped to joint 14th with her round of one-over, 73. She stumbled at no less than three bogeys in her round and was only able to card one birdie in return.
Turkish Airlines ladies Open winner, Christel Boeljon stumbled with one bogey in her opening nine and has yet to complete the back nine. Diana Luna, Rachel Jennings and Florentyna Parker, are all three shots behind the leader.
Second round proceedings are likely to kick off at 9.30 am local time, however, the course is reported to be battering heavy rains for the moment.
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