Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting and Golf Cub Junior member, Peter Whittaker took the solo lead after round two of the Faldo Junior Tour Middle East Championship supported by The Emirates Golf Federation. Players were greeted with benign, calm conditions as they arrived to the course but as we approached late morning, a stiff, testing breeze appeared at times.
Whittaker added a second round 68 to his first round 67 to move to -5 (135), Peter takes a two shot lead in the Overall section of the event going into tomorrow’s final round. In the Boy’s under 18’s, he holds a five stroke lead over Viktor Kofod-Olsen of Denmark who sits on level par (140) as Viktor posted a second consecutive level par 70, Josh Bibby will hope for a fast start tomorrow to try get in the mix for the under 18’s title as he stands at +3 (143).
The Girls under 21 category is completely wide open with Jamie Roslyn Camero sitting on -3 (137), Jamie played the back nine in 33 strokes to post a level par 70. Lucie Vachova is Jamie’s closest rival on -2 (138) and just a single stroke from the lead, Lucie recorded two nines of 35 for a second round level par, 70. Lara El Chaib still has her eyes on the Girls under 21 title as she added another level par 70 for a level par total (140).
Mahreen Bhatia of DLF Golf & Country Club further strengthened her grip on the the Girls under 16 category, Mahreen returned two nines of 35 for a level par 70 and -2 (138) total to take a 7 shot lead into tomorrow’s final round, Zurich Kanokpornvasin is Mahreen’s closest challenger to the title as she posted a second round 73 for a +5 (145) total.
The Boys under 16 section still remains the most open as we have seven players within just three strokes of the lead, Gustaf Larsson remains out in front on +4 (144) by adding a 74 to yesterday’s 70, Gustaf’s brothers Victor Larsson and Adrian are his closest rivals just a shot adrift on +5 (145), Daniil Sokolov and Ed Wade will look to try catch Gustaf tomorrow with both players sitting on +6 (146).
What remains certain is that we will have lots of movement on tomorrow’s final round leaderboard where we will crown the 2023 Faldo Junior Tour Middle East Champion.
