Gabriela Ruffels is on the cusp of promotion to the LPGA Tour after breaking the Epson Tour’s 36-hole scoring record at the Garden City Charity Classic in Kansas.

A day after breaking the Buffalo Dunes course record with a 10-under 62, Ruffels started Round 2 eagle-birdie to move five strokes clear of the field.

That margin would be nine when she finished and six by day’s end as she made six additional birdies and a lone bogey in her round of eight-under 64.

Her 18-under par is a new 36-hole low for the Epson Tour and gives her a significant buffer from Selina Costabile (64) as Ruffels chases a second win for the season.

Currently the No.1 on the Epson Tour moneylist thanks largely to her win at the Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic, a second victory inside two months would almost certainly guarantee her promotion at season’s end and within one of a three-win automatic elevation to the LPGA Tour.

“You know you’re doing something right when you set a record of any kind,” Ruffels said of adding her name to the Epson Tour record books.

“It’s awesome, I am super happy, but there is still one more day to go tomorrow.”

A bogey at nine saw Ruffels make the turn in a relatively subdued three-under 33 but birdies at 10 and 11 quickly re-established her cracking pace.

Further birdies followed at 13, 15 and 17 as she threatened to make the outcome a foregone conclusion 18 holes from the end.

Queensland’s Cassie Porter is tracking for her second top-10 finish in just her fifth start on the Epson Tour after a round of four-under 68 on Saturday.

Porter moved into a share of eighth at seven-under par with one round to play, Victorian Robyn Choi (69) in a tie for 18th at six-under.