On a hot day at Goyer Golf & Country Club, four players share the lead on four-under at the end of the first round of the 2026 Dutch Ladies Open.
Sweden’s Lisa Pettersson, Norway’s Dorthea Forbrigd, Northern Ireland’s Olivia Mehaffey and Italy’s Alessandra Fanali all posted rounds of 68 (-4) on day one in The Netherlands.
LET winner Pettersson had a good start with birdies on the first, second and fourth holes before another birdie on the seventh.
The Swedish star dropped shots on the eighth and 11th but made an eagle on the 13th hole to set the clubhouse lead of four-under.
“[On the eagle] I hit a really good drive. I couldn’t make up my mind if I should play just with the 3-wood by the bunker or try and go over, but I had a little left miss today, so I thought it was nicer to just swing hard,” she said.
“I had a really good drive and then I had about 240 metres to the pin, which is actually way too long, but we thought it was weird to lay up with a wedge, so I hit another 3-wood and luckily it stayed on top of the edge of the green.
“I had to chip that though because I had to go over a tier, but I made a chip so that was really nice. That was a good comeback because I missed a short putt two holes before, it was really nice to get some bounce back.
“I hit my irons quite good today, so I hit it close and I made some good four or five-footers. I missed a few tee shots to the left, but I was really lucky and just had a second shot to pass the ball through even in some high grass, so it was pretty good.”
Norway’s Forbrigd rolled in birdies on the third and fifth holes on her front nine before birdies on 10, 11, and 13, as well as a dropped shot on 16 to seal her 68.
“I hit the ball good,” said Forbrigd. “It was super solid for the most part and my putting was really good. I made some clutch putts, I had a birdie inside three feet but other than my other birdies were really good putts and I made some good saves too.
“I was very happy with my save on the last. Some days things just go your way and I would say they definitely went my way a little bit more today, so that was nice. I never hole long putts. If I hole a putt over five metres the entire tournament, I’m usually very happy. Today, I had two really long putts, so that was very refreshing.
“My host family have been super nice, so lovely and we’re staying super close as well. It’s really nice and they made really good food. I’m with two other plays, so we’ve had a lot of fun and some good company.”
Northern Ireland’s Mehaffey got off to an incredibly hot start rolling in five birdies on the trot between holes three and seven.
She made a double bogey on the ninth but bounced back with a birdie on 11 before finishing bogey-birdie to be -4.
“I putted very well. I holed a lot of long putts and then it was just solid. The five birdies in a row, I lost count which is nice because you’re just playing and then I made a double on nine,” said Mehaffey.
“I hit a bad tee shot and I actually thought I hit a good shot, but it wasn’t enough club and it left me in a bad spot. Then I made a really good par in the 10th because I hit a bit of a bad tee shot, then it was a bit more solid after that. I think the putter was the hot one today.
“I find it so tight off the tee, I don’t feel like this course suits me well at all and I didn’t hit that good in the practice days. I just hit less club off the tee or whatever I was comfortable with to just get the ball in play and then you’ve got chances if you’re in a good spot off the tee. That’s the hardest thing right here is just getting it in play off the tee.”
Italy’s Fanali played in the hotter conditions of the afternoon and was bogey-free during her first round in The Netherlands.
The Olympian rolled in birdies on three, five, nine and 15 to join Pettersson, Forbrigd and Mehaffey at the top of the leaderboard.
“It was really solid and a good start to the week. I hit the ball really well today. The driver was good and the 3-wood was really good off the tee because you have some really tight tee shots especially with the wind. Putting wasn’t really good at the beginning and then it got better, so I’m really happy about that,” said Fanali.
“I’m not really good with the heat! I don’t understand as I’m used to it, but the last five holes were tough. I’m glad we’re done and we’re playing early tomorrow. The wind was blowing quite hard on some of the tee shots which made it trickier especially when it’s sideways in the last few holes. Seven, eight and nine were playing very long, so I’m happy with how I handled it and it was really good from the beginning to the last hole.”
There are 11 players one shot further back with Norway’s Marianne Skarpnord, Wales’ Chloe Williams, Mexico’s Fernanda Lira, South Africa’s Lee-Anne Pace, Romy Meekers of The Netherlands, American Annika Borrelli, English trio Jess Baker, Meghan MacLaren, and Charlotte Heath, as well as Indian duo Avani Prashanth and Diksha Dagar all on three-under.
Round two will begin at 7.45 am (local time) and there will be a cut to the top 60 professionals and ties at the end of the day in The Netherlands.
Keep up with all the action in The Netherlands on our socials– @LETgolf on Instagram and X and Ladies European Tour on Facebook and YouTube – #DutchLadiesOpen.
