Olivia Mehaffey and Annabel Wilson are well placed to challenge for a permanent Ladies European Tour card as play finally got underway at the final stage of Q-School at Al Maaden Golf Marrakech & Royal Golf Marrakech.
The top-20 and ties will earn LET cards and join Lauren Walsh, Anna Foster and Sara Byrne. Mehaffey is two-under after an opening 70 at Royal Golf Marrakech.
The Tandragee woman finished strongly with three successive birdies on 15, 16 and 17 to turn a day of struggle into one of encouragement and she is just three shots off the lead despite being outside the card places in a share of 30th.
Wilson, who fell off the tour after her rookie year, is also on two-under after a 71 on the Al Maaden course.
The Castlerock star also finished with a flourish. After making a double bogey on the 12th she roared home with an eagle on 13 and birdies on 16 and 18.
Canice Screene is 52nd on one-under after a 72 at Al Maaden while rookie professional Áine Donegan carded one birdie and one bogey in a level-par 72 at Royal Golf Marrakech but both girls are still well placed to challenge over the next three rounds.
Wales’ Ffion Tynan, South Africa’s Caitlyn Macnab, Iceland’s Gudrun Bjorgvinsdottir, Nigeria’s Georgia Oboh, Isle of Man’s Ana Dawson, Poland’s Dorota Zalewska and Mexico’s Alejandra Llaneza lead the way on five-under par.
Teeing up at Lalla Aicha Q-School for the very first time, Welsh amateur Tynan had a stellar opening day carding four birdies and one eagle at Al Maaden Golf Marrakech. This comes after the 22-year-old made it through last week’s Pre-Qualifier at Noria Golf Club.
“I stayed pretty patient out there and had a lot of fun,” Tynan said. “I hit a lot of par-5s in two which always helps. I then holed a lot more putts than I did last week at Noria. That gave me a lot of confidence. I
“It’s been so fun so far. I’m here with my best friend on the bag. We’ve had a good time and have been watching Christmas movies all week. Q-School is a long two weeks, so it’s all about staying steady and not getting too far ahead of yourself.
“Another one of my best friends is playing this week, Luca [Thompson], we grew up playing together. For such a small country [Wales] to be doing so well on Tour and have so many girls coming out on the scene, it’s pretty encouraging for the next generation.”
Scoring HERE
Leave a comment