Oliver Betschart shot a one-under 71 in the second round of the Scottish Boys’ Under-16 Open Championship yesterday to remain within striking distance of the lead.

The Bermudian golfer sits in fifth at four under, five shots off leader Harry O’Hara, with one round remaining in the 54-hole strokeplay event at Murrayshall Golf Club in Perth.

“I am just staying in my zone getting ready for tomorrow and I know if I post a good round I have a really good shot at winning this,” an optimistic Betschart told The Royal Gazette.

The 15-year-old endured fluctuating fortunes playing in cold, wet and windy conditions in the second round, which included four birdies, an eagle, three bogeys and a double bogey.

Starting the day in third, one shot behind overnight joint leaders O’Hara and Alex Boyes, Betschart dropped two shots on the par-five 2nd hole but quickly shrugged it off after making eagle on the next hole, which was also a par five.

He then reeled off four straight pars before back-to-back bogeys at the par-three 8th and par-four 9th holes saw him make the turn at two over for the round.

But once again Betschart regained his footing at the earliest opportunity by rattling in back-to-back birdies at the par-four 10th and 11th holes to get back to even par.

He reached one under after carding another birdie at the par-five 15th only to quickly return to even par after bogeying the next hole.

However, Betschart again immediately bounced back with a birdie on the penultimate hole to dip back to one under, where he remained after getting up and down to save par on the par-three last hole.

“Today there was a lot of bouncing back from bogeys with birdies, which I find pretty good,” he added.

“I am definitely trying to improve on making less mistakes and I handled it well today. Even when I put myself out of position I got myself back in play and gave myself chances at birdies.

“I made four birdies on the back nine and an eagle after making a double bogey on the 2nd hole. I made an eagle on the 3rd which was a really good comeback.

“I also made a really good up-and-down on the last hole for par on the 18th, which was a good way to end the day.

“My putting felt really good today and these greens are really good. They are running really smooth and I am enjoying putting on them.”

Betschart put himself in early contention after carding an impressive 69 in the opening round the previous day, which included four birdies and a solitary bogey.

“Yesterday was a lot more steady golf, less bogeys obviously seen on my scorecard,” he said.

“The weather yesterday was better and we missed the bad weather. Today it was cold and raining the whole day with quite a bit of wind. It was 15 knots today.”

Ireland’s O’Hara holds a two-shot advantage at the top of the leaderboard.