Lauren Walsh is four shots off the lead after the opening day of the Ford Women’s NSW Open in Australia.
Walsh carded a two-under-par round of 69 to share nineteenth place and she will be looking to catch Nuria Iturrioz and Kirsten Rudgeley over the weekend at Wollongong.
The Castlewarden woman opened with a birdie before handing the shot back on the seventh. A clean back nine with birdies on 11 and 17 put her back into red figures and into early contention as she hunts her maiden LET title.
Elm Park’s Anna Foster also hung tough in the blustery conditions, carding. respectable one-over 72 while Castlerock’s Annabel Wilson is plus four.
Four-time Ladies European Tour (LET) winner Iturrioz got the ball rolling in Australia carding seven birdies in the morning to set the target. This was despite carding an early bogey at the par-4 3rd hole.
“I was at peace today. I love the course,” the 29-year-old said. “I got lucky because from 9 [my first hole], there wasn’t much wind. Then it started to blow later. So I was happy to score well on the back-nine. I felt great. My putts dropped and I only missed one fairway. No big mistakes.”
It was at the turn where Iturrioz’s round really picked up – the Spaniard rolling in five birdies in six holes at the 9th, 10th, 11th, 13th, and 14th. A brilliant birdie at the par-3 17th met by a typically animated celebration would move Iturrioz to six-under par.
“I always play aggressive!” Iturrioz said when asked about her gameplan. “That’s why sometimes I’m low, and sometimes I’m high. I had a great off-season and have worked on a lot mentally. Sometimes it’s your week and sometimes it’s not. Mentally you can start to struggle trusting yourself. This week, my own goal was to trust myself and believe that the work is done.
“I love Australia, this country is amazing. It’s my first time here since covid and I’m very happy to be back.”
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