Pia Babnik fired the best round of the afternoon with a 67 (-5) on day one of the 2025 La Sella Open.
The Slovenian teed it up at 1.50 pm (local time) at La Sella Golf Resort and played in much gustier conditions than those who teed it up in the morning.
Babnik began the day with three birdies on the trot on the second, third and fourth holes before making three bogeys in a row on holes five to seven.
However, the two-time LET winner soon recovered and rolled in a birdie on the ninth to get back under-par at the turn.
She then made birdies on holes 11, 12, 15, and 17 to seal a round of 67 and sit in outright fourth place on the leaderboard at the end of the first day.
“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.
“The wind was quite brutal at some points. It wasn’t crazy wind, but it was gusting a lot. You could have a two-club wind and then all of a sudden, it would stop. It was guessing a game, so I was lucky today.
“In the morning, I hope it will be a bit more calm. I will try to do the same as I did today which is hit fairways, greens and try and hole some putts.”
Babnik recorded her second top-10 of the season at the Hills Open in August and believes her game is trending in the right direction.
She added: “I do feel like my form is getting better, I have never hit this well before but the results haven’t come yet or they’re not as steady as I’d like them to be. However, a day like today just showed that hard work really pays off and I’m going towards where I want to be.”
The Olympian will tee it up in round two at 9.15 am (local time) alongside Italy’s Anna Zanusso and England’s Liz Young.
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