Sara Byrne earned a well deserved ice cream as she fired a whopping seven birdies to roar into contention on her Epson Tour debut.
Byrne lies in a share of third place on five-under after an opening 67, just two shots behind Savannah Carlson at the Central Florida Championship.
The Dromoland Castle star was traded a birdie and a bogey on the 2nd and 3rd but four birdies in a seven hole stretch sent her flying up the leaderboard before a bogey on 12 was followed up by birdies on 14 and 18.
The Epson Tour is a direct feeder tour to the LPGA Tour with ten cards available at the end of the season and the 23-year-old will be prioritising this tour over the Ladies European Tour as she views it as a more practical path to the LPGA.
Carlson holds the top spot after opening with a 7-under 65 to start her season. Under her new surname, Carlson wanted to make a strong “first” impression, and she did just that, rolling in eight birdies on the day.
“I’m actually very relieved to shoot under par today,” said Carlson with a smile. “I didn’t want it to be like any bad juju or whatever, you know, but I was so excited to come out here as Savannah Carlson and do right by my husband.”
The first birdies came quick, making two in her first four holes before a string of four pars followed. The 31-year-old dropped another birdie on No. 18 before making the turn to the front nine after starting her day on hole 10. Back-to-back birdies followed on Country Club of Winter Haven’s first and second holes before dropping her only bogey of the day on the third. Carlson got the shot right back with a birdie on the fourth and was bogey-free for the rest of the round, adding two more birdies before the end of the round. Carlson is eyeing down her third Epson Tour win of her career and the chance to get off to the best start possible to start her 2025 campaign.
“Staying super present for every single shot was the key today,” explained Carlson. “On this course notoriously, I’ve hit so many errant shots, and so I’m like, why is it so hard to hit a fairway and then hit a green? And so I stayed super, super focused in my pre-shot routine, making sure my setup was good and that I didn’t hit one shot before I was ready. So that truly was the key today.”
The closest competitor to Carlson is Laetitia Beck, who carded a 6-under 66 in her first round on the Epson Tour since 2023. Beck’s round came to life around the turn, carding zero pars between holes 8-15 and rolling in all seven of her birdies in that span. A bogey on hole 12 split the flurry of birdies up.
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