Spain’s Carolina Chacarra, sister of Indian Open winner Eugenio, studies a putt on her way into the day two lead at the Hulencourt Women’s Open in Belgium on Friday. Image courtesy let.com.
By Rahul Banerji
Ladies European Tour rookie Carolina Chacarra raced into the Hulencourt Women’s Open lead even as the Indian challenge stayed on track after Friday’s second round in Belgium.
Chacarra, younger sibling of 2024 Indian Open champion Eugenio, fired a bogey-free 7 under par 65 to total 9 under 135 in only her second LET start, two shots ahead of Australia’s Kelsey Bennet (67).
Day one joint leader Diksha Dagar returned an even par 72 to hold a share of third place on 4 under 140, one stroke up the road from fellow-Indian Aditi Ashok (70-71) who was tied for eighth on 3 under 141.
Avani Prashanth (144) was tied for 18th with a second consecutive even par 72 on while Pranavi Urs (73-76) made it through to the final two rounds right on the bubble at 5 over 149.
Diksha swapped birdie for bogey on her outbound nine and was holding steady till two late dropped shots interrupted her momentum.
However, a birdie on her penultimate hole took her back to level par for the day and in touch with Spain’s Chacarra.
Track record
The event leader shot birdies on holes 13, 15, 16, 17, 1, 4 and 5 to also seize the course record of 6 under 66 at the Hulencourt Golf Club.
“Yeah I mean, it was great today,” Chacarra said on the LET website.
“My caddie and I just stuck to our plan hitting fairways and greens. The rough here, it can be tough when you miss fairways so it helped I was good off the tee.
“I made a couple of great putts too. I had to make some clutch pars coming in so the putter was definitely working. Overall, a great day.”
The 23-year-old, who earned her LET card at December’s Q-School in Morocco, has been playing on the LPGA this season with two cuts and one top-25 finish so far.
Eugenio, competing on the DP World Tour, has won back-to-back last month at the KLM Open and Italian Open.
“He’s definitely my best friend and my role model so it helps when he’s playing good, it gives me momentum,” Carolina said.
Hot streak
“He’s doing great at the moment and it’s super fun to watch him do well.
“It’s funny, we had close tee times today and always try to keep up with each other’s scores on live scoring which can be a little stressful at times.
“Just great to have a brother that also plays golf and understands what I go through.”
Joining Diksha in third place were the other three overnight leaders, Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux, South Africa’s Nadia van der Westhuizen, and England’s Bronte Law as well as Ireland’s Anna Foster.
Alongside Aditi at T8 was 2023 Order of Merit winner Trichat Cheenglab of Thailand.
The cut came at 5 over par 149 with 70 players making it through to the weekend.
Also read: Diksha Dagar leads Indian charge at Hulencourt Women’s Open
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