In the second edition of the APGC Women’s Senior Amateur, Sue Wooster took over from fellow-Australian Gemma Dooley at the top of the leaderboard.

“It was a solid round. Nothing too flash,” said Wooster after signing for an even-par 72 which included two birdies and two bogeys.

Runner-up in last year’s inaugural women’s event in Malaysia, Wooster has a two-day aggregate of three-over 147 and holds a two-stroke lead from Dooley with New Zealander Lisa Herbert a further two shots back in third.

Thanks to the strong showings of Wooster and Dooley, Australia is poised to retain its team title. With a two-day tally of eight-over 296 in the event in which the best two daily scores in each team of three are counted, Australia is 16 shots clear of second-placed New Zealand.

James Lavender maintained top billing at the 2023 Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) Senior Championships.

The two-time Australian Senior Amateur champion followed his opening 68 with an even-par 72 at Vinpearl Golf Nam Hoi An. With a 36-hole total of four-under 140 he will take a two-stroke lead from Indian Sandeep S. Sandhu into Thursday’s third and final round.

“I grinded it out, but I’d have taken this position at the start of the week. Any time you’re leading it’s better than being behind,” said Lavender, who believes he’ll have to shoot under par in the final round to claim the title – and a starting spot in next year’s R&A Senior Amateur.

In the team event, the Australian quartet of Lavender, Rhodes, Ian Frost and Mark Allen are five shots ahead of the second-placed New Zealand line-up of Duff, Paterson, Malcolm Gullery and Tony Chettleburgh. There’s then a further five-stroke gap back to third-placed Korea 2. The best three daily scores in each four-man team are counted.

LEADING MEN’S INDIVIDUAL SCORES

140 – James Lavender (Australia) 68-72 142 – Sandeep S. Sandhu (India) 71-71 144 – Stuart Duff (New Zealand) 75-69 145 – Greg Rhodes (Australia) 73-72; Brent Paterson (New Zealand) 72-73 146 – Kim Yang-kwon (Korea) 75-71 148 – Chung Hwan (Korea) 77-71; Syren Johnstone (Hong Kong, China) 74-74 149 – Andrew Ng (Singapore) 75-74; Lai Chee Weng (Singapore) 75-74; Jang Heong-soo (Korea) 72-77150 – Kim Yeon-gi (Korea) 76-74; Kim Dong-sub (Korea) 74-76151 – Tony Chettleburgh (New Zealand) 76-75 152 – Jimmy Aw (Singapore) 78-74; Ian Frost (Australia) 78-74; Gaurav Ghosh (India) 75-77 153 – Malcolm Gullery (New Zealand) 79-74; Stuart Murray (Hong Kong, China) 76-77 154 – Amit Luthra (India) 77-77; Doug Williams (Hong Kong, China) 77-77; David D’Souza (India) 76-78; Mark Allen (Australia) 75-79; Duong Ngoc Duong (Vietnam) 74-80

LEADING MEN’S TEAM SCORES 434 – Australia 216-218 (James Lavender 68-72; Greg Rhodes 73-72; Mark Allen 75-79; Ian Frost 78-74) 439 – New Zealand 223-216 (Brent Paterson 72-73; Stuart Duff 75-69; Tony Chettleburgh 76-75; Malcolm Gullery 79-74) 444 – Korea 2 226-218 (Kim Dong-sub 74-76; Kim Yang-kwon 75-71; Chung Hwan 77-71; Lim Nae-rack 87-76) 447 – India 221-226 (Sandeep S. Sandhu 71-71; Jaideep Singh 75-81; Gaurav Ghosh 75-77; David D’Souza 76-78) 454 – Korea 1 227-227 (Jang Heong-soo 72-77; Kim Yeon-gi 76-74; Ryo Ki-ro 79-77; Jung Gyeong-ho 81-76) 460 – Hong Kong, China 229-231 (Syren Johnstone 74-74; Stuart Murray 76-77; John Ball 79-83; Yoshihiro Nishi 82-80)LEADING WOMEN’S INDIVIDUAL SCORES

147 – Sue Wooster (Australia) 75-72 149 – Gemma Dooley (Australia) 74-75 151 – Lisa Herbert (New Zealand) 76-75 155 – Louise Mullard (Australia) 76-79 160 – Loida Arnold (Hong Kong, China) 81-79; Yukiko Hirahara (Singapore) 79-81 162 – Diana Syer (New Zealand) 80-82; Cathy Chung (Hong Kong, China) 83-79 163 – Robyn Pellow (New Zealand) 79-84

LEADING WOMEN’S TEAM SCORES

296 – Australia 149-147 (Sue Wooster 75-72; Gemma Dooley 74-75; Louise Mullard 76-79) 312 – New Zealand 155-157 (Lisa Herbert 76-75; Diana Syer 80-82; Robyn Pellow 79-84) 322 – Hong Kong China 164-158 (Loida Arnold 8179; Cathy Chung 83-79; Felicia Louey 86-84)