Ariya Jutanugarn

Jutanugarn, 16, led by a single shot after the first round, but after a 5-under par 67 on the day, she now leads by three shots at 8-under par 136. With this score, Jutanugarn beats the course record of 69 at Lethbridge Country Club, as does SooBin Kim, 18, of Coquitlam, B.C., who also shot 5-under par 67 in the second round to put her into sixth position at 1-under par 143.

“I just made some good putts on the front nine, and then as I went into the back nine, I just had some really nice iron shots onto the green so I was able to make a lot of birdies. On the last hole I even sunk like a 20-footer for birdie, so it was kind of a nice day for me,” said Kim.

“The course is very nice, and everything was good today,” said Jutanugarn. “My driver was a lot better than yesterday, everything was better than yesterday, but my putter is still not very good. I missed some short putts.”

Despite scoring her first bogey of the competition at Hole No. 7 today, Jutanugarn, who is currently ranked at #2 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, carded an additional six birdies to keep her in first position ahead of Team Canada’s Jisoo Keel, 16, of Coquitlam, B.C. Keel shot six birdies and three bogeys to sit at 3-under par 69 on the day, giving her a 5-under par 139 after the first two rounds.

Thanks to a 4-under par 68 on the day, Jutanugarn’s older sister Moriya, 17, sits in a tie for third position alongside Kimberly Kaufman, 20, of Clark, S.D. and Natalie Gleadall, 21, of Stratford, Ont. The trio is currently six shots behind the leader at 2-under par 142.

In all, 79 players will advance to the third round. After 36 holes, the field was reduced to the low 70 players and ties, including the minimum requirement of ten players from the Mid-Amateur division (25+ years) and five from the Mid-Master division (40+ years).

In the Mid-Amateur division, defending champion Christina Proteau of Port Alberni, B.C. leads by ten shots over Ivy Steinberg of Stouffville, Ont. at 4-over par 148, thanks to a 1-over par 73 on the day. Steinberg sits at 14-over par 158, and in addition to her second place position in the Mid-Amateur division, she is leading the Mid-Master division by a single shot.

Today marked the final round of the Inter-Provincial Team competition, and Team Ontario walked away with the title with a tournament total of 5-over par 293. Team Canada members Jennifer Kirby of Paris, Ont., Brittany Marchand of Orangeville, Ont., and Augusta James of Bath, Ont. make up the winning team. Team Québec finished in second place at 11-over par 299, while defending champions Team British Columbia took third position with a 12-over par 300.

The individual winner of the 2012 Royale Cup Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship will receive an exemption into the 2012 CN Canadian Women’s Open at the Vancouver Golf Club in Coquitlam, B.C. from August 20-26. In addition, the champion will receive an exemption into the 2012 USGA Women’s Amateur Championship and, if applicable, the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links, U.S. Girls’ Junior, U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur and USGA Senior Women’s Amateur Championships.

The third round of the 2012 Royale Cup Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship tees off on Thursday, July 26th at 8:00am MDT.