Lavanya Gupta was sitting at even par as she approached her ninth hole of the day, the par-5 18th at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club.

The incoming freshman at the University of Kansas started Thursday’s second round of the Inspirato Colorado Women’s Open as the low amateur at 2 under and didn’t have much going in her first eight holes.

That changed when her birdie on the 18th hole started a run of six straight on her way to a 67 and the lead going into Friday’s final round.

“I think I was just focusing on missing it in the right places and then holing a few putts in a row. That helped quite a lot,” Gupta said.

The 18-year-old had never played at elevation before this week, but her scorecard didn’t show it. She had seven birdies on the day and finished with the best round of the day in dry and sometimes windy conditions.

Gupta put plenty of preparation into her first trip to Colorado.

“I have my GCQuad with me, so I did some prep on the range and the warm-up,” she said. “I had to write down the yardages because it’s even different for the morning and afternoon, considering the weather change. I’m calculating everything.”

Gupta plays on the amateur tour in India and has won in her home country. She also won a professional tournament in India as an amateur in March.

So, Gupta, who is playing three events in the United States this summer, has experience with a lead. And she knows what she must do to close out the tournament.

“I think I will use the same strategy as the last two days,” Gupta said. “Focusing on missing it in the right places and just hitting a few putts.”

Green Valley Ranch has played tough through the first two rounds. Only 11 players were under par after Thursday’s play. There were only four rounds in the 60s in the second round.

Gupta will have two former champions trying to chase her down. Two-time champion Becca Huffer, who won in 2013 and 2019, and 2022 winner Clariss Guce are two shots back at 5 under. Huffer shot a 70 while Guce had a 69 in the afternoon when there was much more wind.

Even after an up-and-down round on Thursday in which she felt her driver “was not behaving,” Huffer said, she is confident going into Friday’s final round.

“I do have a lot of confidence in my play at this course,” Huffer said. “So I know I can get a lot of birdies on any of the holes and just kind of see what happens.” 

There are more former champions all over the leaderboard, as 2025 champ Alyaa Abdulghany is four shots off the pace and 2023 champion Haylee Harford Sanchez sits five off the lead.

“It’s a really good event,” Gupta said. “The field is so good with all the professionals and most of them are playing in Epson (Tour), too. It’s a really good opportunity.”

Final-round tee times at Green Valley Ranch will start around 8 a.m. Friday. The winner of the tournament will take home $50,000 of the $200,000 purse.