Moa Folke fired an excellent round of 64 (-7) to hold a two-shot lead at the end of the first day of the 2025 Jabra Ladies Open.
The morning tee times were delayed by one hour due to heavy rainfall in Evian-les-Bains but play got underway at 9 am (local time).
Sweden’s Folke only dropped one shot around Evian Resort and Golf Club rolling in eight birdies on day one in France.
The 30-year-old rolled in birdies on the first, second, seventh, ninth, as well as the 12th, 13th, 15th and 18th holes to seal a round of seven-under-par.
“I had a really good day out there; my putting was really good today. I hit a few good shots as well, so there were plenty of birdies,” said Folke.
“I have been a little bit all over the place today, I’m not going to lie, I made some great saves out there. It’s about managing yourself and when I have made mistakes I’ve missed in the right place or on the right side, so I’ve still been able to get it somewhere near the green and make up-and-downs. That was key today.
“This is definitely a place that you learn as you go along, it’s my third time here now. It feels a bit easier coming here. It’s quite overwhelming the first time, or it can be the first time you come here. Now I’m more relaxed and I really like this course. I think it suits my game; I hit it a bit longer which is helpful out here.”
Five players are in a tie for second place with Finland’s Sanna Nuutinen, Thailand’s April Angurasaranee, Australia’s Kelsey Bennett, Czechia’s Sara Kouskova and Spain’s Amaia Latorre all on five-under-par.
Nuutinen began her round from the sixth tee and started well making birdies on her first three holes at Evian.
The Finn then made two birdies and two bogeys before finishing with two birdies in her final six holes to be in T2.
“I woke up this morning and checked my weather app and it showed a chance for snow,” said Nuutinen. “I thought perfect, this is just like at home in the springtime when we play our early spring rounds.
“I had all my layers on and felt really cosy. I hit the ball really well and I putted amazing today. It started off like that, and I’m really happy it kept going like that and it didn’t change the direction of the round.
“I have to give credit to my ball-striking also because they were birdie putts and not par putts. I missed a few shots from the tee but then made amazing saves. Credit to my putter and my irons.”
Thailand’s Angurasaranee only dropped one shot at the 14th hole making six birdies to put her alongside Nuutinen.
“I’ve been hitting solid shots throughout the day, actually for a couple of weeks now,” said the 21-year-old. “Today, I was pretty much darting it and made a couple of good putts. I made one three-putt which was the only error of the day. Overall, it’s very solid.
“My final day rounds have given me confidence, especially last week; the last round was super solid. It has given me a lot of confidence coming into here. With the course set-up this week and how the course plays, it really suits my game and that gives me a lot more confidence as well. Having really nice greens out here makes it have more flow.
“Yesterday after my practice round, my putting was so bad. I went to the putting green and changed my putting grip from a normal grip to a claw and it has given me so much better roll and better release, and I stuck to that today and the result was good. I will be sticking to it.”
It was a bogey-free day for Bennett, as she rolled in birdies at the first, third, fourth, sixth and 15th holes for her round of 66.
“I started off with a birdie on my first, holed a five-footer, so that always helps when you hole a putt early and then hitting it well all day,” said the Australian.“It was tit for tat [with Annabell Fuller], she holed a putt then I holed a putt. It took my mind off it because Annabell putted a lot of times first, so I was going off her and thinking she’s holed it, so I need to. I bounced off her big time.”
Kouskova, who is 13th in the 2025 LET Order of Merit, was also bogey-free in Evian with birdies on holes three, seven, 10, 16 and 18.
“We just did what we wanted to do, what we said to do before the round and before the tournament,” said the Czech star. “We really wanted to keep very much present and really one shot at a time.
“More than on other courses, here it’s so important to be focusing on that one shot and be committed. Some pins, even though they’re in a hard position, you need to attack them, and I think that’s what was really good.
“I hit really good shots, and I had some really bad ones, that I managed to save after and then I had a couple of lucky bounces too. I putted really solidly. Some days you feel you’re putting well and that wasn’t the case today. It was just dropping into the hole, and I accepted it, I was happy for it but I didn’t pressure myself to do anything.”
Similarly, Latorre had a flawless first day in France with five birdies on her scorecard including two in her final three holes to be two shots behind the leader.
“I played quite solidly with everything, I made some good putts, and I made two important pars,” said the Spaniard. “Most of the birdies were medium-short putts.
“I made an easy birdie on two par-5s. It was a tap-in birdie and a birdie for two-putts. I feel at home because in the north of Spain, the courses are like this. There is a lot of green, trees, we don’t have any lake but that’s the best part of this course – it’s just incredible!”
Four players are in a share of seventh place with Alexandra Swayne of the U.S. Virgin Islands, England’s Annabel Fuller, Switzerland’s Chiara Tamburlini and Italy’s Anna Zanusso all on four-under-par.
French amateur Sara Brentcheneff is in outright 11th place after firing an opening bogey-free round of 68 (-3) in her homeland.
Round two will begin at 8 am (local time) on Friday and there will be a cut to the top-60 professionals and ties at the end of the day.
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