Kaleigh Telfer’s third under-par round of the week earned her a share of the top spot on the leaderboard, along with first-and-second round leader, Anais Meyssonnier. Telfer carded four birdies and a lone eagle to sign for a 4-under par third round.
“It feels great just to be playing well again and giving myself the chance to compete for the win tomorrow,” said Telfer. “I’m just going to play my own game tomorrow and enjoy myself on the course, like I have been the last couple of days.”
Meyssonnier went bogey-free on the back nine, carding three birdies on the day. The duo have the lowest tournament totals at 12-under.
“I’m really happy with the result, playing three times under par in California,” said Meyssonnier. “Especially on this type of grass which is almost unknown to me. Tomorrow we’ll continue to enjoy ourselves, and we’ll see the result at the end.”
Right behind Telfer and Meyssonnier, at 11-under, were Alessandra Fanali and Arpichaya Yubol. They both played Shadow Ridge’s Faldo Championship Golf Course and went bogey-free on the back nine. Fanali signed for a 3-under round, while Yubol was 2-under on the day.
“It feels great,” said Fanali. “It’s weird for me, because it’s my first qualifier for the LPGA, but I’ve been playing well all summer, so it feels good. I’m excited about it, and I hope it keeps going like this.”
“I’m glad I was able to keep myself together all three rounds in this heat,” said Yubol. “I’m very proud of myself.”
Sabrina Iqbal had the low round of the day, at 7-under. Her bogey-free third round performance, which consisted of seven birdies, shot her up the leaderboard from T107 to T24. The California native put herself safely away from the cutline.
“It felt pretty good that I was able to keep all of my shots in play and not make too many mistakes out there,” said Iqbal. “It was nice to go bogey-free, but I know that bogeys can happen and it’s just about bouncing back and not letting them get to you.”
Leading the pack of Epson Tour members were Telfer, Ho-yu An (10-under), Jessica Welch (7-under), Brittany Fan (7-under), Bobbi Stricker (7-under) and Beatrice Wallin (6-under).
“I never thought I could do this because I was struggling [this season],” said An. “Before the tournament, I was really nervous. I got here earlier to see my coach and he showed me a lot, so I had a good feeling about this week.”
A total of 131 players made the cut at 2-over, including 43 amateurs.