Carmen Alonso has stormed into an early lead at the Ladies Open by Pickala Rock Resort after firing a magnificent 64 (-8) on a disrupted first round in Finland.
During an opening day hindered by not one, but two storm delays, the Spaniard capitalised on her late start by firing six birdies and one eagle to etch into the lead before sunset.
“It was a perfect day for me,” Alonso said, who started her round at 17:37 following the two restarts. “It was really long, but better than the players who played in the afternoon because it was really boring for them. I have to say I am really happy. I played solid golf.”
Beginning on the 10th hole, the 38-year-old soared into contention when she made four birdies on the back nine on the 12th, 14th, 15th, and 18th.
After a steady run of pars, Alonso birdied the 5th before finishing with a wonderful eagle-birdie flurry on the 8th and 9th – seconds before the final horn sounded at 22:00 local time.
She continued: “I am the most happy I can be because tomorrow I don’t have to wake up so early to come back to finish the round! I was really relaxed. I don’t usually have this character, but today I don’t know why I was relaxed. Now I’m going to sleep. This is my fifth week in a row so I’m really tired.”
One back from Alonso is Christine Wolf who initially looked like she would end the day on top after posting a bogey-free 65 (-7) at Pickala Rock.
“I played really well today, bogey free, so that’s always nice,” the Austrian said. “It felt really easy going and I had a lot of fun.”
Starting on the back-nine, the one-time LET winner posted birdies on the 12th, 13th, and 17th before play in Finland came to a halt following an electrical storm at 12:00 local time.
After a three hour delay, Wolf kept her composure to birdie the 3rd, 5th, and 7th hole before setting up another on the 9th following a fine approach.
But with thunder circling Pickala Rock again, the horn sounded at 16:00 local time leaving Wolf with another hour wait to roll in birdie number seven – one which she did in style to complete the near-nine hour round.
“After the first break I started making some putts as well so that was nice,” she continued. “It was a bit of a long wait for the last putt but I made it as well so all good!“
Hot on Wolf’s heels on six-under-par are Finland’s Linda Osala, Sweden’s Johanna Gustavsson, and England’s Lauren Taylor in T3 – the former posting five birdies and one eagle to the delight of the home fans.
Taylor then went bogey-free and carded six birdies including three in a row on the 7th, 8th and 9th to storm into contention with her best round of the 2023 Ladies European Tour (LET) season so far.
“I played solid,” Taylor said. “I hit a lot of good iron shots and was able to capitalise on them. With the delay it was a bit difficult but it was difficult for everyone. I had to refocus but overall I was really happy with my day.”
One back from the duo in T5 is England’s Annabel Dimmock, Germany’s Chiara Noja, and Sweden’s Linnea Johansson – the latter two forced to finish their first round on Friday morning because of the suspensions.
Dimmock made a hot start with five birdies on the front nine before keeping her focus following the two suspensions to post a 67 (-5).
“Today is a complete and utter blur,” Dimmock said. “I came out of the blocks really well. I’ve been hitting it well for a while now and today on the greens things just seemed to drop.
“I came out after the delay and was still playing really nice, I just couldn’t really get a birdie. But it was getting tough out there with tired so I just had to stay focused and finish the job.”
Seven players currently sit in a tie for seventh on four-under-par including Finnish amateur Katri Bakker. The second round got underway at 9:30am local time.
Follow all the action on @LETGolf on Instagram and Twitter and Ladies European Tour on Facebook and YouTube – #RaiseOurGame #LETsRockPickala.
