ARTIS AND BECK SHARE LEAD AT FIVE
UNDER IN SYMETRA TOUR EVENT
GARDEN CITY, Kansas: There may not be a
professional golfer that has had a better last three weeks than Rebecca
Artis, who fired a 3-under 69 in winter-like conditions to grab a share
of the 36-hole lead at the Garden City Charity Classic at Buffalo Dunes
Golf Course.
Artis is 5-under 139 for the tournament, tied with Karlin
Beck, who held the lead after round one and shot an even-par 72 on Friday
Temperatures fell as low as 38-degrees and wind gusts soared as high
as 28mph. Scoring suffered as just eight players finished
under-par for the day. Only 13 players are under-par for the
tournament.
The cut was made at 7-over-par and 71 players will play on Saturday.
Artis has been red hot of late on the Ladies European Tour (LET).
She finished in a tie for third two weeks ago at the Ladies Scottish
Open and finished solo second at the Helsingborg Open last week.
The momentum has continued this week in Garden City. She carded two
birdies on the front nine and three birdies on the back nine including
back-to-back on the 12th and 13th holes. She took sole possession of the lead at 6-under with a birdie on the 16th, but made bogey on the 18th to drop back into a share of the lead.
“Before the round, I was standing on the range and I just said to
myself that it is going to be cold out here, the wind is up and I just
need to be patient,” said the 25-year-old Artis.
“I knew the leaders
weren’t going to go too far forward with the conditions and I hit some
well.”
Artis said the conditions were the coldest she has played in over three years.
“I don’t think the wind was a massive issue, the temperature
definitely was. It was really cold. It’s hard to put enough layers on
to stay warm, but still hit good golf shots.
The Coonabarabran, Australia native has ten birdies, two bogeys and one triple bogey for the tournament.
“Early on in the year, I wasn’t playing bad golf, I just couldn’t get
any momentum going. The last couple weeks, I’ve finally seen some
putts drop which has been a huge change. I hit the ball really well in
Scotland and Sweden and I brought that form into this week.”
Artis currently ranks 42nd on the Volvik Race for the Card money list with $15,295 earned in just 13 events. She ranks 19th on Tour in scoring average at 72.31.
“Without counting on results, I planned on playing this week and next
week in Daytona and then have the week off leading into second stage of
Qualifying Tournament. That was always my plan.”
Artis played in three events on the Symetra Tour in 2010, but played
exclusively on LET from 2011 through 2013. The reason she decided to
play Symetra Tour this year is because she won on the LET last year and
has a two-year exemption to play LET through 2015.
That being said, her ultimate goal is the LPGA Tour.
“This is my fifth year on the LET and I love it out there. I’ve had
some pretty good results, including a win in Sweden last year,
but at the end of the day the money is on the LGPA Tour. My goal is to
be playing full-time on the LPGA. Whether it is through Qualifying
School or the Symetra Tour, absolutely the goal is LPGA.”
SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 144 (2x72)
139 Rebecca Artis (Australia) 70 69, Karlin Beck (USA) 657 72
140 Jessica Wallace (Canada) 70 70
SELECTED SCORES
143 Olivia Jordan-Higgins (Channel Islands) 70 73 (T9)
148 Katie Mundie (England) 75 73 (T37)