Whanganui's Tara Raj made it to the second round, or final 16, of the matchplay section of the New Zealand Amateur Championships at the Russley Golf Club on Friday.
Having qualified 13th of the original 40 entries, Raj defeated 20th qualifier Lizzie Neale from Nelson, 1up in the morning games.
She then had a tougher opponent in 4th qualifier Amelia Garvey of Kaiapoi, who won their matchup 1up in the afternoon.
Garvey was eventually beaten narrowly by Pakuranga's Rose Zheng in the semifinals, despite having led for 17 of the 19 holes.
The other finalist to emerge for today's playoff was North Shore's Silvia Brunotti, who was looking to join Lydia Ko in winning the amateur title at just 14-years-old, being older than Ko by 68 days.
