Agathe Laisne, Brianna Navarrosa and Ariane Klotz share the round one lead at the Joburg Ladies Open after the trio made the most of soft conditions at Randpark Golf Club firing cards of 66 (-7).
Laisne, currently second on the Ladies European Tour (LET) Order of Merit, set the pace in South Africa posting eight birdies and dropping just one shot at the 1st – her 10th hole of the morning.
The Frenchwoman is teeing up for the first time since the Australian swing where she enjoyed a memorable month picking up one win and one runner-up finish.
“I hit all the greens today,” Laisne said, who won the Ford Women’s NSW Open in March. “So that was nice. The highlight was my ninth hole [the 18th] where I pitched up to a foot [to make birdie]. I trained that shot a lot back home so I was really happy that I could pull it off in a competition.
“The win has given me a lot of good confidence. I like chasing Casandra Alexander [in the Order of Merit], it’s a good position to be in.”
Coming into the clubhouse not long after was Navarrosa. The American went bogey-free at Randpark thanks some excellent golf and a birdie-birdie finish at the 17th and 18th.
“It was a very solid day,” Navarrosa said. “I managed to stay patient and stay present which is something I’ve really been trying to focus on. I had a pretty early start but was three-under through four holes, so was like ‘woah’. I stayed very present.”
Navarrosa has fond memories of South Africa after finishing T16 at last year’s Investec SA Women’s Open despite only getting in the tournament on the morning of the opening round. It was a result which helped re-rank the 2025 rookie who has since not looked back.
“It’s my second year [on tour]” the 23-year-old said, who also has a South African caddie, Jamie Senekal. “I played great last year in the South African swing. So I’m hoping to have some more good finishes out here. My personal goal is to have four great rounds under par. I really like this course so I’m looking forward to the next few days. Being aggressive here is something you can do.”
Also carding a 66 (-7) on Thursday was Klotz. The New Caledonian native made eight birdies in the Joburg sun finishing with a pair at the 8th and 9th. The fantastic opening round follows a difficult Aussie swing for the Frenchwoman who missed three out of three cuts Down Under.
“The conditions were great,” Klotz said. “We knew it would be playing easier because of the soft greens [after heavy rainfall on Monday and Tuesday]. It’s a lovely course and I hit the ball well today.
“I did a lot of mental work when I was home. I did get some rest after Australia and then grinded a lot. I was hitting it well back home, very solid, so that helped me regain confidence. I didn’t quite understand what was happening on the course in Australia because I was playing well but then mistakes happened and I wasn’t able to recover. So I saw my mental coach and we worked on a few things. It feels really nice today.”
In a tie for fourth on six-under par sit Scotland’s Laura Beveridge, Australia’s Justice Bosio and England’s Jess Baker. The former has spent the last month in South Africa competing on the Sunshine Ladies Tour (SLT) where she has been fine tuning her game ahead of the new LET season.
Slovenia’s Pia Babnik, Wales’ Lydia Hall and France’s Celine Herbin round off the top-10 in a tie for seventh on five-under par.
Elsewhere on day one, home favourite Casandra Alexander carded a round of 69 (-4) despite bogeying her opening hole, the par-4 10th. The Joburg local is the highest ranked player in the field sitting 41st in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.
“It wasn’t a solid round,” Alexander said. “It was a bit of a rollercoaster, but a tidy rollercoaster. It’s still early days, but it’s nice to shoot an under par round on day one. I had a disappointing bogey finish with a three putt, but that’s golf and it happens. I’ve hopefully got three days of good golf to come.”
A total of 73 players went under par on day one at Randpark Golf Club. This included five South African players.
The second round of the Joburg Ladies Open gets underway tomorrow at 6:45 local time. Keep up with all the action from the tournament on our socials – @LETgolf on Instagram and X and Ladies European Tour on Facebook and YouTube. #JoburgLadiesOpen
