Kate Lanigan pleasantly surprised herself on day one of the Flogas Irish Women’s and Girl’s Amateur Open Championship as she opened her campaign with a three-under 71 at Woodbrook.
The Hermitage star has played very little golf since February as she dug her way through exam season in Trinity College but she was delighted to dust off the cobwebs and low expectations paid off as three birdies in her last four holes lifted her into a share of fourth place.
“I didn’t know what to expect today, I didn’t know what sort of golf I would have so delighted that the rust is eventually off,” said Lanigan who trails Beth Coulter and Lorna McClymont by three shots.
“I think it was pretty solid I got off to a steady start with a lot of pars. My only bogey was on seventeen, I was raging after that! But delighted to finish with a birdie on 18 so it was a stress free day which is always nice. Not many putts dropped so room for improvement over the next two days.”
Lanigan has course form at Woodbrook having finished third in the Woodbrook Scratch Cup back in March and she was thoroughly impressed with the conditions particularly the two new holes installed for the championship.
“Conditions are fairly similar the only thing is the greens, they are rolling much quicker as we all discovered, they are very pure. The place is in amazing condition, all the girls were complimenting it.
“The greens were so fast that if you gave it a go suddenly you had a nasty five footer back so I was very patient, a lot burned the edges and I was delighted to finish with a few towards the end. I knew going out the last five or six holes you can shoot a score so I stayed patient and I got a few to drop.
“The new holes are lovely, you wouldn’t know they were new because they fit in so nicely which is great. They are a great addition.”
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