Hannah Darling and Grace Crawford qualify comfortably in Women's Amateur

Hannah Darling is taking it a step at a time as she bids to complete a clean sweep of R&A titles in Norfolk this week.

Hannah Darling during day two the R&A Women's Amateur Championship at Hunstanton Golf Club in Norfolk. Picture: Harriet Lander/R&A/R&A via Getty Images.

The Broomieknowe player has already claimed the Girls’ Under-16 and Under-18 crowns and now finds herself chasing the Women’s Amateur Championship, won last year by fellow Scot Louise Duncan.

It was mission accomplished for Darling in the 36-hole stroke-play qualifying at Hunstanton as she followed her opening 72 with a 69 for a five-under-par total.

For the second day running, she made seven birdies, which, on this occasion, had three bogeys mixed in, two which came in the last three holes.

“Yeah, did what I needed to do,” said Darling of comfortably progressing to the knock-out stage. “Happy enough with how it’s gone. A lot of good stuff in there and it's been a promising few days.

“But obviously there's a few things in there that I need to go and work on for tomorrow and for the next few days.”

Darling is bidding to become the first player to land the three titles. “Yeah, that would be pretty cool,” admitted the Scottish No 1. “But we go again tomorrow and take it step by step and not get ahead of ourselves.”

North Berwick’s Grace Crawford, the current R&A Girls’ Under-16 champion, also had a stress-free journey into the match-play stage following rounds of 73-70, starting her second circuit with three straight birdies.

“Job done for now,” said Crawford, who is just 15. “I think it's two separate competitions, so I've completed the first challenge and now on to the next one.”

Chloe Goadby, the 2021 Scottish champion, squeezed through on three-over, having shot a second-round 71, but defending champion Duncan, who bogeyed the last for a 74, agonisingly missed out on the same mark.

Japan’s Amy Jamashita finished as the top qualifier on eight-under following a second-round 66.

On her first visit to the UK, 17-year-old Yamashita ended up on the same mark as Italian Emilie Alba Paltrinieri but secured top spot on card countback.