Sarah Schober and Liz Young lead the way by one shot after the first round of the Big Green Egg Open, with the pair carding opening round scores of 67 (-5) in the Netherlands.
The duo sit a single stroke ahead of Diksha Dagar and Whitney Hillier after the opening 18 holes at Rosendaelsche Golf Club, with both players ending their rounds strongly to sit at the top of the leaderboard.
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After starting the day with a bogey on the second, Schober found her feet later down the front nine, with three consecutive birdies through holes 6-8 enough to see her reach the turn in 34.
And that momentum continued on the way home, with birdies on 11 and 15, before bouncing back from a bogey on 16 with back-to-back birdies to finish the day, leaving her delighted with her day’s efforts in Arnhem.
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“I’ve been hitting it really well the last couple of weeks I just couldn’t score that well because my putting was a little off, but I’m really happy that I got -5 today,” Schober said.
“I stayed patient out there, it’s not an easy course. You need to hit it straight and putt well, but I’m very happy and satisfied with how I played today.
“I had two very close approaches on the par-threes, but the rest of my birdies came on the par-fives where I could get to the green in two.”
The spectacular round almost came as a surprise even to Schober, who hadn’t even seen the back nine of the course before taking on the pins in the opening round today.
And despite the unforgiving nature of the golf course at Rosendaelsche, the Austrian dealt with the surroundings expertly in Thursday’s action, as she continues to recover from a back injury that kept her off the course through the final stages of 2021.
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It was a similar story for Young on the greens on day one in the Netherlands, with the Englishwoman rolling in six birdies in her day to share the lead after 18 holes.
Birdies on the fourth, eighth and eleventh got the momentum going, before dropping a shot on the 12th, only to bounce back with three more birdies on the way home to rocket up the leaderboard.
And it could have been even better for the 39-year-old, only for an eagle putt on the 17th to agonisingly stay above ground, but she was pleased with her efforts nonetheless.
“It was a good day, I drove the ball well which is obviously key round here, I hardly missed a fairway and my iron shots in were really good today as well,” Young said.
“Some putts dropped and some didn’t – it could have been better but then I made a few long ones so that helped, but overall it was a good day.
“My worst drive was on 18, but overall I was pretty straight, and it makes the day a lot easier when you’re in the middle of the fairway.
“My game is getting there, everything I’ve been working on is slowly coming together and I’m starting to shoot some low numbers. I shot 66 in Sweden and hadn’t shot six-under in a long time, then to follow it up with a five-under today is great.”
Sitting one shot behind Schober and Young are Dagar and Hillier, with the duo both shooting 68 (-4) as they made the most of the pristine weather on Thursday.
2019 Investec South African Women’s Open champion Dagar came flying out the blocks to record three birdies in her first four holes, before picking up another shot on the ninth to complete the front nine in 32.
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Dropped shots on 10 and 13 were all but forgotten about with birdies on 12 and 17, with the Indian star delighted with her performance over the first 18 holes, especially on the greens.
“It was a really good day, I’ve been working on my putting and I was feeling confident about my putts so I was making more of them, and that was helping my hitting too.
“Because I’ve been practicing and practicing I found it easier to read the greens and find the lines. My hitting was also very good, I was able to attack the flag and make the putts.
“I was only in the rough once but I was lucky that I had a good lie so I was able to make par from there, otherwise I was hitting all the fairways.”
