Hally Leadbetter of Rollins College, who holds the individual lead after Thursday’s second round of the Women’s NCAA Division II Finals at CommonGround Golf Course, has a surname very well known in golf circles, and it’s not just happenstance.
Leadbetter is the daughter of David Leadbetter, one of the top golf instructors in the world and the name behind the David Leadbetter Golf Academies. David Leadbetter works with, among others, women’s world No. 1 Lydia Ko and Michelle Wie.
On Thursday, Hally certainly lived up to her name by shooting her low round of season — by two strokes — a 3-under-par 69, to give the left-hander a two-stroke lead at the halfway point of the national championship.
Leadbetter, a fifth-year season at the Winter Park, Fla.-based Rollins College who transferred from the University of Arkansas, stands at 3-under-par 141 overall, two ahead of four players who share second place: teammate Paige Lyle, Daniela Martinez of Central Oklahoma, Marisa Toivonen of Augustana and Gabrielle Shipley of Grand Valley State.
On Thursday, Leadbetter’s bogey-free round featured three birdies.
Leadbetter, whose mother Kelly competed on the LPGA Tour, has six top-10 individual finishes to her credit this season, including a win in the season opener. She placed 34th in the NCAA DII Finals last year.
Leadbetter’s Rollins team, which is seeking its sixth national championship in women’s golf, holds an eight-stroke lead at CommonGround with two rounds left. Rollins stands at 2-over-par 578, with defending champion Indianapolis second at 586.
The women’s tourney — and the men’s DII finals at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club — are part of the NCAA Division II National Championships Festival in which titles in six sports (M&W golf, M&W tennis, softball and women’s lacrosse) will be decided.
Tickets for the DII National Festival are $5 per person per day, or $15 for an all-session pass for the week. Tickets purchased at one site will be valid at all other competition sites.
For more information on the Spring Sports Festival, CLICK HERE.
For scores from the women’s tournament, CLICK HERE.
