Lauren Walsh leads the way for the four Irish women in attendance on day one of the Tipsport Czech Ladies Open, with Sara Byrne one shot behind, but they are both well off the early pace.
A fortnight ahead of a return to home shores for the KPMG Women’s Irish Open, Walsh went bogey-free around Royal Beroun Golf Course, carding two birdies on the front side before adding a third on the closing hole to end the day tied for 27th.
Byrne was among the early starters and had a mixed day, carding three birdies and two bogeys on her way out, but finished strongly to birdie two of her closing three holes after following a birdie on three with back-to-back bogeys on four and five.
Canice Screene is on +1 despite making a triple bogey-eight on the par-5 fifth, while Olivia Mehaffey’s three-over opening round leaves her in 115th place and needing to go very low to make the 36-hole cut.
Amandeep Drall leads the way through 18 holes after the Indian fired a 64 (-8) at Royal Beroun Golf Club – her best ever round on the Ladies European Tour.
On a Friday full of birdies, Drall, playing in only her second LET event of the season, read the low-scoring script carding nine birdies and dropping just one shot.
“I’m very happy,” the Indian said. “Especially after last week [missing the cut in Belgium]. Line reading was definitely the difference. I hit the ball well last week but I couldn’t read the lines at all. I was so confused on the green. But coming into this week, I focused a lot on my putting. I concentrated on my stroke and my line.”
This scorecard included four birdies in a row at the 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th to give the 32-year-old a one-shot lead.
Drall’s career-best round was made all the more impressive given her absence from the LET in 2025, with the Indian only teeing up for the first time at the Hulencourt Women’s Open because of VISA issues. She would miss the cut last week in her season debut.
“I was probably making up for lost time,” Drall said. “I was really sad that I missed out on three events because of my VISA. But I’m happy now. I’ll stick to what I’m doing and trust my stroke on the greens.”
Hot on Deep’s heels after a birdie bonanza on Friday are a trio of English players, led by veteran Florentyna Parker. The three-time LET winner was celebrating her 36th birthday and carded a bogey-free 65 (-7) to sit one off the lead.
Walsh, Byrne, and a host of other Irish LET stars, elite Irish amateurs, and European Solheim Cup stars will be in attendance at Carton House from June 30th to July 6th and tickets are still available here.
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