Olivia Mehaffey’s impressive revival continued on the opening day of the LET’s Dutch Ladies Open at Goyer Golf and Country Club as the Tandragee woman took a share of the first-round lead.
Despite missing the cut in the U.S. Women’s Open – her first major championship appearance since 2020 and debut as a professional – Mehaffey’s confidence has been on the rise and she reeled off five birdies in a row on the front nine before a costly double bogey on the ninth stalled her momentum.
Six pars, a bogey and two birdies on the back – including a ‘three’ on the par-4 18th got her back to four-under-par and she is part of a four-way tie for the lead with Lisa Pettersson of Sweden, Norway’s Dorthea Forbrigdt, and Allessandra Fanali of Italy.
“I putted very well,” Mehaffey said afterwards. “I holed a lot of long putts and then it was just solid. The five birdies in a row – I lost count which is nice because you’re just playing and then I made a double on nine,” said Mehaffey.
“I hit a bad tee shot and I actually thought I hit a good shot, but it wasn’t enough club and it left me in a bad spot. Then I made a really good par in the 10th because I hit a bit of a bad tee shot, then it was a bit more solid after that. I think the putter was the hot one today.
“I find it so tight off the tee, I don’t feel like this course suits me well at all and I didn’t hit that good in the practice days. I just hit less club off the tee or whatever I was comfortable with to just get the ball in play and then you’ve got chances if you’re in a good spot off the tee. That’s the hardest thing right here is just getting it in play off the tee.”
Sara Byrne and Aine Donegan are next best of the Irish at level-par, four off the lead and tied for 39th, though they’ll have contrasting emotions about the round.
Byrne was two-under with three to play having birdied three of her opening four holes but then double bogeyed the 16th to fall back to level, while Donegan found herself at +4 through 11 but rallied to birdie four of the final six holes.
Anna Foster lies one further adrift at +1. She too stated slowly and was +3 after four but kept her card clean with two birdies from that point onwards and she lies on the projected cutline in a tie for 58th.
Canice Screene, making her first LET start of the year after three successive top-10 finishes on the LET Access Series, shot a three-over 75 and lies two shouts outside the target and will likely need a round in the 60s to see final-round action.
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