Canberra golfer Nikki Campbell had a horror round of six-over-par 78 to drop from the lead after the second round of the Ladies European Tour’s Slovak Open.

Campbell’s effort was 11 shots worse than her opening 67 that earned her a share of the first-day lead with defending champion Line Vedel of Denmark.

But the Australian rookie was still only seven shots from the lead in a share of 19th.

Former European No.1 Gwladys Nocera shot a four-under 68 on Friday to join Vedel at the top of the leader board.

The Dane added a one-under 71 to her opening 67 to end tied at six-under after a second day of scorching conditions at Golf Resort Tale near Brezno.

Sweden’s Camilla Lennarth was two strokes back on four-under after a 69.

Playing in temperatures of 30C with barely a breeze, Nocera fired five birdies and a bogey on the mountainous Gray Bear Golf Course.

“I just played well. I hit 17 greens and I’m hitting the ball better than yesterday so I really tried to stay patient. This course is really demanding, physically and mentally,” said the 38-year-old Frenchwoman.

While several players struggled with the heat and the steeply inclined fairways, Nocera took the conditions in her stride.

“You’ve got to drink a lot of water. I try to stay in the shade, which is hard, because there are not many trees around. I’ll try to stay patient and not get mad, because its a waste of energy.”

Vedel, who won her maiden title by two strokes from Caroline Masson at the venue 12 months ago, was also managing her physical fitness, despite suffering from a bad back.

The 24-year-old mixed five birdies with four bogeys, but lamented: “I had so many chances but missed quite a lot. I hit some bad shots in between and made some bogeys so it was up and down. I’m happy I was under par.”