Gaunt ups lead at Arkansas Amateur

Connor Gaunt pushed his lead to four shots after the second round of the Arkansas Amateur Championship, again posting the day’s low round as he shot 4-under 66 at Hardscrabble Country Club in Fort Smith to sit at 9 under for the tournament.

The Cabot native started with a bogey after 18 bogey-free holes Thursday but birdied two of his next five holes, and the LSU junior highlighted his round with an eagle on the 365-yard par-4 13th.

Lake City’s Thomas Depriest matched Gaunt’s round of 66, making eagles on two of the three par-5s and birdieing the other. Depriest went out in 32 strokes, setting the tone for his 4-under round, putting him at 5 under after two rounds.

Murphy Allard of Rogers (-4), Michael Senn of Bentonville

(-1) and Tyler Reynolds of Rogers (even) all carded rounds of even-par 70, keeping them at even or better for the championship.

Just five of 72 players posted rounds in the 60s Friday, among them Fayetteville native and University of Central Arkansas sophomore Palmer McSpadden, who is 2 over after shooting a second-round 67.

Dover’s Julie Oxendine took control of the women’s championship with a round of 5-over 75 to lead at 17 over. Oxendine logged birdies on Nos. 3 and 8 after going without one in Thursday’s first round.

Hot Springs’ Nora Phillips followed up her opening-round 11 over with another 11-over 81, putting her five shots behind Oxendine. Kim Robinson, who held the colead with Phillips through 18 holes, dropped back to third after shooting 88 to put her at 29 over on the tournament.