Following a rain-soaked 24 hours the first round of the Ford Women’s NSW Open is now complete with home stars Kelsey Bennett and Hannah Reeves leading the way on six-under par.
The opening round had been suspended for the day on Thursday at 12:55 local time due to a flooded course at Wollongong Golf Club. Germany’s Alexandra Försterling and Denmark’s Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen held the overnight lead after completing their opening 18 holes in two-under par.
Play resumed at 08:00 on Friday with Bennett, born and raised in New South Wales, getting off to the hottest of starts birdying four of her opening five holes at the 9th, 10th, 11th and 13th.
Five pars followed before the in-form Australian added two more birdies at the 1st and 2nd at a wet and windy Wollongong. Bennett’s only dropped shot of the day came at the long par-3 3rd before she rebounded with another birdie at the 6th for a round of 65 (-6).
“I just kept it in play off the tee and holed some really good putts”, Bennett said, who finished T12 at the season-opening PIF Saudi Ladies International. “It’s pretty cool [to tee up in my state open]. I’ve got my nan and my uncle here and a few supporters. I’m looking forward to the rest of the week.”
Matching her score shortly after was regional qualifier Reeves who produced a stunning performance on her Ladies European Tour (LET) debut.
The Brisbane-born player had a clean scorecard going bogey-free while posting birdies at the 9th, 10th, 13th, 17th and 1st.
“Today it was quite a struggle out there with the wind and the rain, but I hit the ball really nicely,” Reeves said. “I’m really happy with today’s round.”
Reeves only turned professional in October and won three of the Ford Women’s NSW Open qualifier events to book her place at this week’s tournament.
“It’s awesome,” the 24-year-old said. “This is my first LET event so just playing with all the LET and WPGA girls is awesome. I would love to play on the LET in the future and it’s so good to play in such a great event. And especially with how much rain we’ve had, the course is unreal.”
Two shots back on four-under par sit LET winner Morgane Metraux from Switzerland and another debutant, Luca Thompson from Wales.
The latter had a magnificent first outing on the LET carding nine birdies for a round of 67 (-4). Thompson’s scorecard was made all the more impressive given she only got into the tournament last week.
“I’m just a bit baffled at the minute,” the rookie said. “We had British weather so that’s always helpful, it felt like being at home! I had my brother [Woody] on the bag which was really nice. This is his first time on the bag and he wanted to come to Australia too. My wedge game was really good today.
“To be honest, it was an absolute nightmare [getting over here]. First we couldn’t get a visa, then we managed to get one while I was on the plane because I was going to stay in Bali first. Then I changed my flight to Australia, got to Doha, was delayed 18 holes and ended up not getting here until Monday morning feeling very jet lagged. So yeah, it’s really good.”
In a tie for fifth on three-under par sit three players who earned a full LET cards at Lalla Aicha Q-School – Ireland’s Aine Donegan, South Africa’s Caitlyn Macnab and the U.S. Virgin Islands’ Alexandra Swayne.
Nine players round off the top-10 on two-under par following the completion of 18 holes at Wollongong Golf Club.
Round two has now commenced in New South Wales with the second half of round one’s draw all taking to the course again this afternoon.
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