It's tight at the top of the leaderboard after day two of the Ladies European Tour’s Final Stage Lalla Aicha Tour School as three players moved into a share of the lead.
Belgian Leslie Cloots (67), England’s Sian Evans (68) and and Swede Linnea Ström (66) share the lead on eight-under-par, one clear of Germany’s Esther Henseleit (69), who also played her second round at Amelkis Golf Club.
Evans, 27, from Gillingham, who has been crowdfunding to cover her trip to Tour School, said: “I started off pretty well. I had quite a few birdies in a row and I holed a few putts, which got the momentum going. I birdied 10 and then just stayed steady and made lots of pars coming in.”
She credited her coach, former European Tour player Zane Scotland, for helping her to find more consistency in her swing.
Cloots, 24, from Antwerp, said: “I had a fun round today. I had six birdies and one bogey. The weather is nice and the course is in great shape. I played here last week so I feel really confident. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Ström, who won pre-qualifying B at Amelkis last week by six strokes, with a winning 72-hole total of 23-under-par, continued her love affair with the golf course.
The 22-year-old from Hovas said: “I played very steady and was good from the tee box, so I gave myself a lot of good shots into the green. I had an eagle on number 15, which helped me a lot. I hit a good drive and then a 4-iron and made a five-metre putt. It’s a fun course to play and the greens are rolling well.”
Henseleit, from Hamburg, who has been billed as a future star of European women’s golf, was a little frustrated with her round, but said afterwards:   “I started really well with two birdies on the first two holes and I played some easy pars. On the ninth hole, I made a stupid bogey, but I thought, ‘there are more birdies out there’. I made two more on 11 and 14 and then finished with minus three. I think the Palm Golf Ourika is more difficult because if you hit a bad shot, it is much worse than here. I feel that at Amelkis you have more open space around the greens.”
Ireland’s Leona Maguire is one of five players tied for fifth on six-under-par and after carding a 70 at Palm Golf Ourika, she said: “I had a couple of birdies out there. I played really nicely tee to green but didn’t hole as many putts as I would have liked. It was nice to finish with a good birdie on the last. I played Amelkis last week which is a bit shorter and I quite like it over there. The greens are a bit different, which makes it a little tricky switching between the two but they are both nice courses. It’s a long week so I’m taking one day at a time.”
The first round leader, Astha Madan from India, sits in tied 10th spot with Nadine Dreher from Austria.
Madan had a nightmare start after taking a quintuple bogey nine on the 10th hole at Palm Golf Ourika, but she recovered with four birdies on the back nine, before carding two bogeys on the front in a 74.
Madan explained: “I started with a tee shot where I slipped because the grass was a bit wet in the morning and I fumbled here and there but got through the hole. I knew I was hitting it well so I started off with the same mind-set, one shot at a time and here I am. Of course it’s not how I wanted to start but I knew it was one of those things I wanted to get out of the way. After that I committed to every putt. I could see the line today and I dropped a few birdies. Two bogeys caught me but it was still there.”
Of the other notable players, Bronte Law is tied for 14th and LET regulars Chloé Leurquin and Vikki Laing are tied for 25th spot on one-under-par.
There will be a cut to the leading 60 players and ties after 72 holes, after which the top five will earn category 5c membership and those in positions six to 25 will earn category 8 membership of the LET for 2019.
HOW THE SCOTS STAND
141 Rachael Taylor 71 70 (T14)
143 Vikki Laing 75 68 (T25)
146 Alison Muirhead (am) 73 73 (T40)
147 Laura Murray 74 73 (T57)
148 Jane Turner 74 74 (T68)
149 Hannah McCook 75 74 (T76)

ALL THE LEADING SCORES AFTER TWO ROUNDS
par 144 (2x72)
T1 Leslie Cloots BEL 69 (P) 67 (A) 136 -8 F
T1 Sian Evans ENG 68 (P) 68 (A) 136 -8 F
T1 Linnea Strom SWE 70 (P) 66 (A) 136 -8 F
4 Esther Henseleit GER Am 68 (P) 69 (A) 137 -7 F
T5 Manon Gidali FRA 68 (P) 70 (A) 138 -6 F
T5 Emma Grechi FRA 71 (P) 67 (A) 138 -6 F
T5 Lauren Horsford ENG 66 (A) 72 (P) 138 -6 F
T5 Leona Maguire IRL 68 (A) 70 (P) 138 -6 F
T5 Dulcie Sverdloff ENG 68 (A) 70 (P) 138 -6 F
T10 Astha Madan IND 65 (A) 74 (P) 139 -5 F
T10 Nadine Dreher AUT 71 (P) 68 (A) 139 -5 F
T12 Stefania Avanzo ITA 73 (P) 67 (A) 140 -4 F
T12 Tvesa Malik IND 71 (P) 69 (A) 140 -4 F
T14 Rachael Taylor SCO 71 (A) 70 (P) 141 -3 F
T14 Ainil Bakar MAS 70 (A) 71 (P) 141 -3 F
T14 Lucrezia Colombotto Rosso ITA 72 (P) 69 (A) 141 -3 F
T14 Diksha Dagar IND 70 (A) 71 (P) 141 -3 F
T14 Bronte Law ENG 70 (A) 71 (P) 141 -3 F
T19 Sofie Bringner SWE 69 (A) 73 (P) 142 -2 F
T19 Rochelle Morris ENG 69 (P) 73 (A) 142 -2 F
T19 Maria Hernandez ESP 68 (A) 74 (P) 142 -2 F
T19 Emilie Alonso FRA 73 (A) 69 (P) 142 -2 F
T19 Filippa Moerk SWE 70 (A) 72 (P) 142 -2 F
T19 Sarina Schmidt GER Am 70 (A) 72 (P) 142 -2 F
T25 Nobuhle Dlamini SWZ 73 (A) 70 (P) 143 -1 F
T25 Rosie Davies ENG 74 (P) 69 (A) 143 -1 F
T25 Kim Metraux SUI 72 (A) 71 (P) 143 -1 F
T25 Chloe Leurquin BEL 72 (A) 71 (P) 143 -1 F
T25 Vikki Laing SCO 75 (A) 68 (P) 143 -1 F
T25 Elina Nummenpaa FIN 72 (P) 71 (A) 143 -1 F
T25 Lejan Lewthwaite RSA 75 (P) 68 (A) 143 -1 F
T25 Mariell Bruun NOR 71 (P) 72 (A) 143 -1 F
T25 Niina Liias FIN 71 (A) 72 (P) 143 -1 F
T34 Sarah Nilsson SWE 74 (A) 70 (P) 144 Par F
T34 Annelie Sjoholm SWE 70 (P) 74 (A) 144 Par F
T34 Manuela Carbajo Re ARG 73 (P) 71 (A) 144 Par F
T34 Agathe Sauzon FRA 73 (P) 71 (A) 144 Par F
T34 Savannah Vilaubi USA 70 (P) 74 (A) 144 Par F
T39 Maria Palacios ESP 76 (P) 69 (A) 145 +1 F
T39 Gemma Clews ENG 70 (A) 75 (P) 145 +1 F
T39 Camilla Hedberg ESP 74 (A) 71 (P) 145 +1 F
T39 Charlotte Leathem ENG 70 (A) 75 (P) 145 +1 F
T39 Amanda Jakobsson SWE 72 (P) 73 (A) 145 +1 F
T39 Gudrun Bjorgvinsdottir ISL 73 (A) 72 (P) 145 +1 F
T39 Mathilda Cappeliez FRA 70 (A) 75 (P) 145 +1 F
T39 Isabella Deilert SWE 74 (P) 71 (A) 145 +1 F
T39 Isobel Wardle ENG Am 69 (A) 76 (P) 145 +1 F
T39 Clara Pietri SUI 75 (P) 70 (A) 145 +1 F
T49 Emilie Piquot FRA 71 (A) 75 (P) 146 +2 F
T49 Andrea Jonama ESP 73 (P) 73 (A) 146 +2 F
T49 Alison Muirhead SCO Am 73 (A) 73 (P) 146 +2 F
T49 Kiran Matharu ENG 73 (A) 73 (P) 146 +2 F
T49 Verena Gimmy GER Am 72 (A) 74 (P) 146 +2 F
T49 Elizabeth Mallett ENG 77 (A) 69 (P) 146 +2 F