German amateur Olivia Cowan fired a flawless opening round of three under par 69 on the Blue Course at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Rabat, Morocco, to set the pace in the Ladies European Tour’s Lalla Aicha Tour School Pre-Qualifying A for 2015.
The 18-year-old, who was born in Germany to English parents, ended the first round of the 72-hole pre-qualifier two strokes ahead of fellow Golf Club St. Leon-Rot player Sophia Popov.
Cowan birdied the sixth, seventh and 16th holes, while Popov had four birdies against three bogeys on her card.
A stroke further behind on level par are England’s Sarah-Jane Boyd and Italian Alessandra Averna, with Ladies European Tour rookie Lucy Williams and Tara Lyons of the USA on one over par.
After four rounds, a total of 29 players and ties will go forward to the Final Qualifier in Marrakech on 17-21 December.
Earlier this year, when playing on the LET Access Series, Cowan revealed her hopes to join the LET and explained a little of her background.
Cowan said: “My dad is Andrew Cowan is a pro at Babarossa (originally from Liverpool). I used to be a member there but I changed this year to Golfclub St. Leon-Rot which is an hour away. The training facilities are so good there that I decided to change. I’m from Kaiser Slautern in the south west of Germany, near Frankfurt. I’m English but I play for Germany.”
The final round of Pre-Qualifier A will be played on Sunday.
Collated scores after round 1:
69 – Olivia Cowan (GER)
71 – Sophia Popov (GER)
72 – Sarah-Jane Boyd (ENG) , Alessandra Averna (ITA)
73 – Lucy Williams (ENG) , Tara Lyons (USA)
74 – Olafia Kristinsdotter (ISL) , Louise Stahle (SWE) , Alex Peters (ENG) , Charlotte Ellis (ENG) , Abbey Gittings (ENG)
75 – Johanna Bjork (SWE) , Lien Willems (BEL) , Csella Lajtai (HUN) , Jamila Jaxaliyeva (KAZ)
76 – Sideri Vanova (CZE) , Lauren Blease (ENG) , Portland Rosen (USA) , Piti Martinez Bernal (ESP) , Jessica Karlsson (SWE)
77 – Laura Sedda (ITA) , Lina Elmsater (SWE) , Laure Sibille (FRA) , Tara Delaney (IRL)
78 – Gemma Webster (SCO) , Anaelle Carnet (FRA) , Sofia Bjorkman (SWE) , Amanda Strang (SWE) , Lisa Anderson (SWE) , Gemma Fuster Anglada (ESP) , Blair O’neil (USA)
79 – Therese Nerpin (SWE) , Anna Svenstrup (SWE) , Rebecca Green (AUS) , Emma Goddard (ENG) , Marie Fourquier (FRA) , Gabriella Cowley (ENG) , Vera Shimanskaya (RUS)
80 – Eva Kozeluhova (CZE) , Marian De Miguel (ESP)
81 – Ji Hyun Suh (ENG) , Martyna Mierzwa (POL) , Rosie Davies (ENG) , Joyce Chong (NLD)
82 – Lisa Shervill (ENG) , Jenna Maihaniemi (FIN)
83 – Nina Pegova (RUS)
84 – Hermione Fitzgerald (SUI)
89 – Felicity Lloyd-jones (USA) , Maiya Tanaka (USA)
91 – Sabina Imboden (SUI)
Full score board:
http://www.letscoring.com/leaderboard/68873
