Elm Park’s Anna Foster can be proud of her first round performance around a tricky and windy Hulencourt Golf Club in Belgium as the 24-year-old sees herself at the competitive side of the leaderboard, just three strokes back from the leaders after 18-holes.
A shaky start for the Dubliner saw a bogey at the par-4 first but Foster settled in well after, getting her first pair of birdies at the seventh and eighth before a mishap at the ninth saw her take the turn at even-par.
Foster liked to keep her birdies in twos it seemed as she made another pair at the 12th and 13th to take her to two-under. A missed fairway followed by a missed green forced a bogey at the 15th to see Foster post a one-under-par 71 to sit T16 after Thursday’s first round.
Sara Byrne had some good and some bad on display on Thursday as the Dromoland Castle golfer posted a three-over-par round to sit T61. Byrne’s front nine was identical to Foster’s, but a bad run of holes closing out the back nine saw the 25-year-old make a double bogey at the 16th, followed by a bogey at the 17th and 18th, posting a 75.
Byrne has been steady this season, sitting 40th in the Order of Merit having started only five events so one wouldn’t be surprised to see a strong performance on Friday to take her right back up the leaderboard.
Ennis’ Aine Donegan sits two back from Byrne after the 24-year-old posted a five-over-par 77. Donegan only managed to make one birdie throughout the day as her scorecard was over run by four bogeys and a double. Down’s Olivia Mehaffey too had a bogey infested scorecard as the 28-year-old posted a six-over-par 78 to sit T103.
It’s a four-way tie for first place at the top of the leaderboard with four-under-par being the score to beat. India’s Diksha Dagar looks to continue her fine start to the season as she went bogey-free on her way to 68.
“It was a very steady day of golf,” the 25-year-old said. “It was really tough conditions, but still we continued and stay composed. I’m very happy that I went bogey-free. It was tough to read the greens so I focused on the speed. The greens are also much faster than last week.”
Joining Dagar for the lead is South Africa’s Nadia van der Westhuize, Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux, and England’s Bronte Law.
Van der Westhuizen was first to sign as she fired five birdies and dropped just one shot which came at the par-4 16th.
“This is my first year on tour and I’ve actually been playing very well the last two weeks, I’m just still learning a lot. Everything is started to come together which is nice to see,” said the 24-year-old.
Thailand’s Trichat Cheenglab shares T5 with Finland’s Ursula Wikstrom who both sit at three-under.
Cheenglab, the 2023 Ladies European Tour Order of Merit winner, was feeling the effects of the tough course.
“This golf course, if you miss the fairway you have very long rough and you need to avoid it,” said the 30-year-old.
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