KEY POINTS:
Little known Western Australian golfer James Carr is the surprise leader after two rounds of the New Zealand amateur golf championships on the Kapiti Coast yesterday.
Carr, who missed the cut at his home championship last week by just one shot, fired a three-under 68 to move to five-under 137 as the scoring hotted up in the men's championship at Paraparaumu Beach.
Meanwhile overnight leader Zoe-Beth Brake retained her lead in the women's championship after a two-over 75 to move to two-under 144 after two rounds at neighbouring Waikanae Golf Club.
She leads pre-tournament favourite Dana Kim (Christchurch) by two shots with a further two shots to Manukau's Hayley Clinning.
The men took full advantage of a pristine Paraparaumu Beach course and idyllic conditions with 19 players shooting in the 60s yesterday.
Carr, surprisingly one of only two Australians in the field, was one-over at the turn but zoomed home with four birdies in his second nine for his 68 and the lead.
He is two shots clear of four players on three-under 139 that includes North Harbour's Todd Baek (Peninsula) and a trio of Wellingtonians - Paraparaumu's James Betts, overnight leader Malcolm Gullery (Hutt) and Miramar's Peter Spearman-Burn.
The only surprises to miss the cut for the top 72 players and ties were the New Zealand junior representatives for next week's Trans Tasman Cup, Masterton's Ben Campbell and Auckland's Seve Ha.
The cut came at eight-over 150 with 77 players to contest the final two rounds.
At Waikanae Brake followed her course record 69 with a two-over 75 yesterday to move to two-under for the championship.
"I was happy again with my form today," Brake said. "The difference was that the birdie putts did not drop today."
The main threat will come from Kim, the North Island champion, who improved drastically with her three-under 70 that included four birdies.
"I had a better start today," Kim said. "I hit it straight yesterday but today I sank good birdie putts and got my confidence back. That was the key.
"Tomorrow I plan to stay on my game and think about one shot at a time. I think that I can catch the leader but I'm not going to think about her score, just play it one shot at a time."
