Abby Arevalo knocked in seven birdies to secure her spot in the final round of the Garden City Classic at the Buffalo Dunes golf course in Garden City, Kansas on Saturday.
The 24-year-old fired a four-under-par 68 to move to 3-under for the tournament and was the only Filipina to make the cut.
Starting the day on 1-over, she began with a birdie on 10 and bogey on 11 before making back-to-back birdies from 14.
She reached the turn on 2-under after a bogey-birdie finish.
Arevalo birdied 1 and 3 and bogeyed 8 before closing with a birdie.
On 141, she sits on joint 45th, 15 shots behind runaway leader Gabriela Ruffels who followed a 62 with a 64.
Bianca Pagdanganan shot a 70 but was not enough to advance.
She finished 36 holes on 1-under, one shot off the cut line.
Pauline del Rosario had a second-straight 70 for 144, Clariss Guce ballooned to a 77 for 148 and Chanelle Avaricio carded a 75 for 149.
The second was another day of red numbers, with players needing to go low to get within the cut at -2.
‘You know you’re doing something right when you’re setting a record of any kind.’
But, even with the low scores, the lead grew due to a record-setting 36-holes by Ruffels (64), who has separated herself from the field by a wide margin.
Ruffels followed up a stellar first round that included a new course record with the co-best score of the day in round two.
The former University of Southern California Trojan carded a second-round 64, including an eagle, seven birdies, and one bogey.
Ruffels now sits at 126 (-18) after two days of play, breaking the 36-hole Epson Tour scoring record set by Sue Ginter-Brooker at the 2002 Hewlett Packard Garden State FUTURES Summer Classic.
“You know you’re doing something right when you’re setting a record of any kind,” Ruffels said. “It’s awesome; I am super happy, but there is still one more day to go tomorrow.”
The 23-year-old has made birdies on 17 of her last 36 holes, a 47 percent birdie rate. Ruffels has a win earlier in 2023 at the Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic and will carry a six-shot lead heading into the final round. However, even with a significant lead, her game plan remains the same.
“It is the same mindset,” explained Ruffels. “Playing aggressive is how I play best. I just need to keep capitalizing on my opportunities and keep it same-same.”
Selena Costabile (64) was able to match Ruffels on the day, but the Canadian went bogey-free in her second round.
