Maja Stark and Amandeep Drall both fired rounds of 68 (-4) to be co-leaders at the end of the first day of action at the Women’s NSW Open.
It is another week with two-time LET winner Stark at the sharp end of the competition as she rolled in six birdies and two bogeys at Coolangatta & Tweed Heads Golf Club.
Related: Meghan MacLaren hopes NSW Open will be third-time lucky
The 22-year-old, who finished in second place at last week’s Australian Women’s Classic – Bonville, tops the 2022 Race to Costa del Sol and is aiming to get another victory under her belt this week.
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“I was a bit wide off the tee, so I was in the woods quite a lot, but I didn’t get bogeys when I was there,” said the 2017 PING Junior Solheim Cup player.
“It was fine, and my putting was pretty good, and I hit some good irons. It was pretty steady other than the driver being everywhere.
“I felt the pins were pretty easy because they weren’t close to the edges so you could go for almost everything. I thought that was better than playing defensively. The greens are nice, I like that they’re firm and pretty quick too.
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“Last week, I made some stupid mistakes on the back nine. I am back for more. It is my plan to make up for it this week.”
It was a similar round for Drall, who teed off in the afternoon groups, as she also rolled in six birdies and two bogeys to be alongside Stark at the top of the leaderboard.
“The weather was nice; the course is playing not too bad,” said Drall. “The fairways are pretty decent with the rains we have had and some of the greens are firm and pretty quick, but I think I managed well so I’m quite happy about that.
“I sank two long putts which were more than 30 feet, the rest were within 12 feet so in that way my ball striking was pretty consistent. I think the most important part was off the tee with my driver, I was pretty consistent, and I kept the ball in play in the fairways.
“I would it probably does suit me because I like playing tighter tree-lined courses. It is pretty flat, so you have to keep hitting it straight. I think I can do that and manage that and I’m looking forward to the next three days.”
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Australian amateur Belinda Ji is one of four players one shot further back having carded an opening round of 69 (-3).
At last week’s Australian Women’s Classic – Bonville, Ji fired a career-best round of 65 (-7) on the final day and has carried that momentum forward to this week.
“I feel like I played pretty solid throughout, I started nicely with two birdies and after that I was playing pretty steady so I’m happy,” she explained.
“I had a really nice final round of seven-under and it’s nice to carry that form to this tournament and just keep the momentum.
“It is quite different to Bonville, a lot tighter and on some you have got to be really strategic. I’m enjoying the course and the greens are rolling really nicely, they are pretty quick too so it’s a good test.”
Ji sits alongside England’s Alice Hewson, who made an eagle, four birdies, a bogey and a double bogey on her way to a round of three-under.
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Hewson said: “I really enjoyed it, I got off to a good start. It was nice to see some putts getting in the hole early on, I had a little bit of a wobble in the middle of the round but happy to recover from that.”
The duo are also joined by Australian Jordan O’Brien and Scotland’s Michele Thomson after they both signed for 69 too.
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