Hannah Darling has taken the lead at the European Ladies' Amateur Championship.

The Scottish player, who celebrated her 16th birthday last week, fired a bogey-free 68 (-4) in round three at Parkstone Golf Club to top the leaderboard on eight-under-par.

"I enjoyed it out there a lot. I just stuck to my processes, I had no idea where I was on the leaderboad" said Darling. "Obviously it's a big tournament but it's still the same golf course. There's no pressure on me to be honest, I'm only 16, so I'm just going to enjoy it tomorrow and see what happens in the end."

Darling, the second youngest player in the 144-player field, will have a chance to become the first ever Scottish player to win the European Ladies' Amateur Championship on Saturday. Victory would also qualify her for the AIG Women's British Open to be held at Woburn next week.

France's Chloé Salort shot the lowest round of the day. The French player made four birdies and an eagle on her way to shooting a five-under-par 67, which earned her a place in the final pairing with Darling. Salort will need to overcome a three-shot deficit to Darling to become the second French player in three years to lift the trophy.

England's Kirsten Rudgeley, and Gile Bite Starkute of Lithuania will play in the penultimate pairing, both also three shots back on -5. Starkute would become the first Lithuanian player in history to claim an EGA individual gold medal if she finishes on top of the leaderboard after Saturday's final round.

Four players sit in a tie for fifth on -4: Annabell Fuller (ENG), Jana Melichova (CZE), Gile Bite Starkute (LIT), and Caterina Don (ITA).

There were two holes-in-one in Round three at Parsktone Golf Club. Lauren Walsh holed a five-iron on the 150m second hole, and Germany's Sarina Schmidt aced the 147m 14th hole with a seven-iron on her way to a round of one-under-par. "I immediately knew it was really good, but I didn't expect it to go in" said Schmidt. "It bounced two metres in front of the hole and just rolled straight in. It's my first ever hole-in-one!"

61 players made the 54-hole cut, which finished at +5, and will play in two balls in the final round.

The full leaderboard, the final round tee times, and livescoring can be found on the championship webpage.

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