LET rookie Anna Huang fired a bogey-free round of 64 (-8) to lead by two strokes at the end of the first day of the 2025 La Sella Open.
The 16-year-old Canadian made back-to-back birdies on the second and third before rolling in three on the trot on holes six to eight.
Huang added another birdie on 10 before a pair of birdies on 12 and 13 to seal a round of eight-under-par at La Sella Golf Resort.
“Today my ball striking was good, and I actually don’t think I missed any greens, so that’s a plus,” said Huang. “My putting was good. Almost anything under 30-foot on the front nine I was making, which was shocking for me.
“Bogey-free is great too. Just avoiding the rough is really important here and that’s what I did today, which made it a lot easier.
“It’s been a pretty fun rookie season. I did struggle with my putting a little bit mid-season, so I missed a few cuts there. I switched my putter out before Houston and that has helped.”
Huang headed to Lalla Aicha Q-School last December while an amateur and secured Category 16 status for the 2025 Ladies European Tour season.
Despite being only 16, the Canadian then decided to join the professional ranks and become an LET member and has had a solid season while balancing both school and life on Tour.
She continued: “It was always my dream to be a pro golfer, and I had the support of my friends and family plus I have a great management team. Having them support me and be there for me was really important and a huge factor. They pushed me to chase my dreams.
“Being able to manage everything, manage your travel and my homework as well has been a big learning process for me this year. I just started this school year a couple of weeks ago, I need to catch up on my work tonight.”
France’s Nastasia Nadaud and Germany’s Leonie Harm sit in a share of second place on six-under-par after they each carded rounds of 66 in Spain.
Nadaud, who is ranked 13th in the LET Order of Merit, had a bogey on the 11th but bounced back with a birdie on the 12th hole.
The 20-year-old Frenchwoman then got on a roll making five birdies in-a-row on holes 17 through to the third; she added another birdie on five before dropping a shot on seven but finished with a birdie on the ninth to be in T2.
“It was a really good day out there, I didn’t realise how low I was scoring until I got to the end and saw the cameras,” said Nadaud. “I started out with a bogey on 11 with a three-putt but I just needed time to get used to the speed out there.
“I managed to get a couple of birdies in and when you get through holes 10-18 with an under-par score you can be happy. I knew I had opportunities on the front nine and managed to take them all. I struggled off the tee a bit from 10 to 18, I hit a couple of roughs, but I managed to have great shots out of there and up-and-downs which helped.
“My whole game is trending in the right direction, all areas of my game are getting better and better especially my short game and putting, which I was struggling with at the start of the year. It’s all coming together and I’m looking forward to the rest of the week.”
Germany’s Harm, who began her day on the 10th tee, started with a dropped shot on 11 but soon recovered with four birdies in a row on holes 12-15.
She made three further birdies on the fifth, sixth and ninth holes to join Nadaud on six-under-par at La Sella Golf Resort.
“It was a nice day at the office, I felt really good,” said Harm. “I had a quirky start on 11 because I didn’t really hit a bad shot but somehow walked away with a bogey but then I made really good birdies on 13 and 14.
“I caught some momentum and didn’t really make any massive mistakes. My short irons were really good, they never left the pins on most holes which set me up for some good looks and my putter was better this time around.
“I kept it [the ball] on the golf course so far this year. Driving it well out here is an advantage because the rough can be quite nasty. I did miss a couple, but it was never really a bad mistake, which made it a lot easier to get around this course without any hiccups.
“I’m really happy with the round I put together. I was feeling a bit sick the past couple of days and didn’t practice yesterday. I was going out here without any expectations and then being able to shoot this round is a positive surprise.”
Slovenia’s Pia Babnik sits in outright fourth place on five-under-par after carding a round of 67 which included eight birdies and three bogeys.
“I’m really happy with my day, I made eight birdies. There was a rough patch in the middle, but I was able to come out of it and play well in the end,” said the two-time LET winner.
“I did hole a lot of putts today. I was hitting it close quite a lot, a lot of the shots went short of the pin and then I was making the putts. Some of the par-5s, I played really well, so I was really pleased with that.”
Spain’s Luna Sobron Galmes is in solo fifth place on the leaderboard after making seven birdies and three bogeys in her round of 68 (-4).
“Today my long game was really good,” said Sobron. “Two days before coming here, I was practicing with my dad the rhythm and the connection with my right side of my body. Today, it was good, and I made the putts as well.
“My birdie on 13 was very good, I hit it to two metres, so that was perfect and also on 18, I hit my hybrid on the green in two and then it was an easy birdie. I’m going to go and hit some balls to keep the rhythm, and my plan is to do the same and enjoy the round. We will see what happens.”
Two players are in a share of sixth place with Singapore’s Shannon Tan and Denmark’s Natacha Host Husted both on three-under-par.
A total of nine players are on shot further back including LET Order of Merit leader Mimi Rhodes, and Jana Melichova, who has returned from a year-long break due to injury this week.
Round two will begin at 8.20 am (local time) and there will be a cut to the top-60 professionals and ties at the end of the day.
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