England’s Mimi Rhodes has shattered the course record with a stunning nine-under-par round of 62 to storm into a share of the lead alongside Czech Olympian Sara Kouskova at the Ford NSW Women’s Open.
The women’s course record was set just yesterday by overnight leaders, Australia’s Kirsten Rudgeley and Spain’s Nuria Iturrioz, who both shot six-under 65s.
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However, 22-year-old Rhodes, who was educated in the U.S. college system at Wake Forest, comfortably set a new benchmark with 10 birdies and one bogey, finishing with a remarkable 62—one of the best rounds of her burgeoning career.
Rhodes only joined the Ladies European Tour in December 2024 after winning her first professional event, the Lavaux Ladies Open in Switzerland, in September 2024—just 16 days after turning professional.
“That round is in the top three of my career so far,” she said. “I shot a couple of eight-unders last year, and this round had that familiar feeling under the circumstances, so I kept my cool and just let it flow.
“I don’t think I missed a green—well, I missed on 17, actually, but it was still a putt. I was really solid with all of my irons, and the putts went my way.”
Setting the course record, taking the lead, and shooting so low was “unbelievable.”
“I wasn’t expecting any of it. I haven’t had my best golf the past couple of weeks. I made a swing change. I didn’t feel this round coming, but my irons and putting both came together at the same time, and it produced an incredible round.”
Sara Kouskova from the Czech Republic finished in almost darkness with a sensational 8-under par 63, which included an eagle on the par-five 13th to share the lead going to the weekend in this final event of the Ladies European Tour swing Down Under.
Kouskova has four professional wins, with the most recent coming in the Lavaux Ladies Open in Switzerland in September 2022.
“It was nice,” the Paris 2024 Olympian said of her bogey-free effort.
“The winds were totally different. I hit lots of good shots today. I had another eagle putt on the ninth, that was really nice.
“I had three or four par saves, and the rest of the round was really steady.”
Rhodes was fortunate to finish her round before nearby storms forced organisers to suspend play for 80 minutes at around 4:40 p.m. AEDT. Luckily, the weather cleared, and play resumed at 6:00 p.m., with nearly half the field still on the course. Early tee times tomorrow will allow organisers to make a mid-morning cut.
Rudgeley, who played perfect links golf in tough winds yesterday, remained humble when assessing her three-under 68, which left her tied for second.
“Again, it was a pretty relaxing round of golf. I didn’t really do too much wrong, and if I did, my putter helped me out—which is always a nice bonus,” said the 24-year-old from Perth.
“I’m playing steady, and we’ll see how the rest of the week goes. You’re never going to play a perfect round of golf, so I’ll go do a bit of shopping now and chill out, I think.”
Among the players forced to wait out the storm were Sweden’s Moa Folke, who prior to the resumpiton was tracking up the leaderboard nicely. A triple bogey seven however, on the tough par four 7th destroyed her chances of gettting within striking distance of the leader. Folke now sits in third place alongside the Spaniard Fernandez and the Czech Olympian Sara Kouskova who has two holes to play.
Fernandez, also 24, had seven birdies in her round, reaching -8 and tying for fifth. Playing in her third event of the season, Fernandez started strong and kept the momentum going.
“I like to start with birdies. And then I kept playing pretty solid on all of the holes,” she said.
“On the second nine, I birdied all of the par fives—so very consistent. Very different out there today.”
The course played much differently than expected, with light winds replacing the forecasted 25 km/h sea breeze from the northeast.
“Yesterday, you had to aim so much more right or left or hit three extra clubs,” Fernandez said. “Today, it was just the number, then play that and make a normal swing. So it was awesome. And the par fives were more reachable because the wind wasn’t hurting.”
Italy’s Alessandra Fanali, Kim Metraux of Switzerland and Diksha Dagar of Indai are next best tied for 6th at seven under.
Other notable rounds included Germany’s Laura Fuenfstueck, whose six-under 65 catapulted her into a tie for 16th, and England’s Rosie Davies, who moved into a share of 13th with a five-under round.
The lowest-placed amateur is Australia’s Grace Rho, whose back-to-back 69s leave her in a tie for 16th heading into the weekend.
5.50pm: PLAY TO RESUME at 6.00PM
Two slow-moving storm cells that forced Golf NSW LET and WPGA Tour officials to call players from the Wollongong Golf Course now no longer pose a threat to players. As a consequence, it is anticipated players will be in position by 5.50pm to resume their rounds at 6.00pm.
4.40PM: PLAY SUSPENDED
Play has been suspended at 4.40pm in round two of the Ford Women’s NSW Open at Wollongong Golf Club with nearby storms causing concerns for organisers.
Large storm cells with potential lightning are tracking northeast from the Southern Highlands region in southern Sydney, with other cells behind them.
Safety of the players is paramount, and organisers are hoping the weather will clear allowing further play into the twilight.
Stay tuned for more updates
3.15pm: Rhodes runs riot as storm hovers over Wollongong
Enlgand’s Mimi Rhodes is the big mover as the second round enters the mid afternoon phase, and now leads the Ford Women’s NSW Open at 10 under through 14 holes.
Rhodes only joined the Ladies European Tour in December 2024 after winning her first professional event in the Lavaux Ladies Open in Switzerland in September 2024—just 16 days after turning professional.
Part of the NCAA team championship-winning squad at the renowned Wake Forest in the United States, Rhodes only turned professional after last year’s Curtis Cup, and quickly found her feet winning on the LET Access Tour to secure her playing rights on the LET for 2025.
Rhodes was faultless on the back nine (her front nine) rolling in birdies on 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, and 18 to turn in just 31 shots. She dropped another on the 1st, to join Rudgley on top of the leaderboard. The lead became all hers when she made her 7th birdie of the day on the 288-metre par-4 four 4th (her 13th).
Sweden’s Moa Folke is also heading in the right direction, at three under after eight holes. Overnight co-leader Nuria Iturrioz, after starting with a birdie on her opening hole (the ninth), suffered back-to-back bogeys on 15 and 16.
The Spaniard has just birdied 18 to get back to even for the day and into a tie for 7th.
1.35 PM: CUT DAY: Kirsten’s playing catch me if you can
Australia’s Kirsten Rudgeley holds a one-shot lead at minus nine after firing a three-under par 68 midway through the second round of the Ford Women’s NSW Open at Wollongong Golf Club.
Equal overnight leader with Spain’s Nuria Iturrioz, Rudgeley put together her round in unexpectedly friendly conditions. Birdies on 11, 15 and 18 (her front nine) and another on the short par-4 4th left her one clear of Spaniard Blanco Fernandez, who had the equal best round of the morning groups (six-under par 65) and -8 overall.
Italy’s Alessandra Fanali is in outright third position with her five-under round this morning to be at -7 for the tournament.
Rudgeley, who played perfect links golf in tough winds yesterday, was her usual humble self when asked to assess her round.
“Again, it was a pretty relaxing round of golf. I didn’t really do too much wrong, and if I did do anything wrong, my putter helped me out, which is always a little bonus to have,” said the 24-year-old from Mount Lawley in Perth.
“I’m playing steady, and we’ll see how the rest of the week goes. You’re never going to play a perfect round of golf, so I’ll go do a bit of shopping now and chill out, I think.”
Fernandez, also 24, had seven birdies in her round, with her sole bogey coming on the 380m par-4 7th. Playing in her third event of the season, Fernandez started with a birdie, and kept them coming.
“I started with a birdie. I like to start with birdies. And then I kept playing pretty solid all of the holes,” she said.
“On the second nine I birdied all of the par fives. So very consistent. Very different out there today.”
The course played so much differently today, with light winds instead of the forecast 25km/h sea breeze expected from the north-east.
“Yesterday you had to aim so much right or left or hit three more clubs,” Fernandez said. “Today was just the number and then play that and do normal swings. So it was awesome. And then the par fives were more reachable because the wind wasn’t hurting.”
Of the completed rounds so far today, Switzerland’s Kim Metraux finished three-under to be at -7 and tied for third with Norwegian Dorthea Forbrigd who added a five-under round this morning to her opening 70 yesterday to be at -6 and tied for fifth on the leaderboard.
Other rounds of note this morning came from Germany’s Laura Fuenfstueck who’s six-under 65 catapulted her into a tie for 11th, and Scotland’s Kylie Henry who shot four-under to be at -3 and in a tie for 19th in the tournament.
Despite the forecast of winds up to 25km/h this morning, the conditions have been vastly different. Earlier a mist fell across the course, followed by light showers that lasted more than an hour. Right now the conditions are mild, the wind is very light and players are taking advantage.
12.15pm: Rudgeley opens three-shot lead
Western Australia’s Kirsten Rudgeley has a three-shot lead in the second round of the Ford Women’s NSW Open at Wollongong Golf Club.
Equal overnight leader with Spain’s Nuria Iturrioz, Rudgeley shot a three-under outward nine with birdies on 11, 15 and 18 to be three clear of Italy’s Alessandra Fanali who is four-under in her second round to be at -6 for the tournament.
Norwegian Dorthea Forbrigd has this morning’s hottest round on her hands with a six-birdie/one bogey effort that leaves her also at -6 and T2.
Despite the forecast of winds up to 25km/h this morning, the conditions have been vastly different. Earlier a mist fell across the course, followed by light showers that lasted more than an hour. Right now the conditions are mild, the wind is very light and players are taking advantage.
Other rounds of note this morning have come from India’s Pranavi Urs, Scotland’s Kylie Henry, Austria’s Sarah Schober, Italy’s Anna Zanusso and Germany’s Laura Fuenfstueck who are all four-under in their rounds and moving up the leaderboard.
7.30am: Who’ll ring the Gong this weekend?
The hunt for the Jan Stephenson Trophy continues this morning on day two of the Ford Women’s NSW Open from the Wollongong Golf Club where the city meets the sea.
This co-sanctioned WPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour (LET) event is the climax of a three-event swing down under.
There is so much on the line, and the competition will heat up over the next three days as players jockey for position to get into the final groups for the weekend.
Leading the event is Perth’s Kirsten Rudgeley and Spain’s Nuria Iturrioz who both shot equal course records yesterday (65) to be a shot clear of Swede Anna Magnusson (-5) and with seven other players in equal fourth on -4 and within striking distance.
The weather forecast for the second round is similar to yesterday: winds out of the north-west swinging north-east into the afternoon and strengthening to 25km/h, ensuring the course will once again play more difficult for the afternoon groups.
The internationals may have a grip on the leaderboard here and took the title last week in Coffs Harbour at the Australian Women’s Classic (Manon De Roey from Belgium) but an Australian is in the lead and anything can happen from here.
Join us for coverage throughout the day in this event proudly brought to you by Golf NSW. We will be updating our social media channels throughout the day and we will have live updates and leaderboards on our website.
TV coverage will begin tomorrow on Fox Sports and Kayo from 11am.
Why not head down here and walk the fairways with some of the world’s best female golfers and take in the vistas of the ocean and course from the beautifully-appointed clubhouse with endless hospitality and things to do?
