Darcey Harry and Alexandra Försterling matched one another’s low scoring agenda on Thursday at the Women’s Australian Open carding rounds of 66 (-6) and 67 (-5) respectively to sit first and second on the leaderboard.
Playing in the same group at Kooyonga Golf Club, the pair made the most of calmer morning conditions both finishing with excellent eagle putts on their final hole, the par-5 9th, to set the standard for the day.
Welshwoman Harry, a winner on the Ladies European Tour (LET) at last year’s Hulencourt Women’s Open, went one lower than her counterpart carding birdies at the 10th, 14th, 18th, 1st and 5th to go along with her grandstand finish. The 22-year-old’s only dropped shot of the day came at the 11th.
“The group was great,” Harry said. “It was so lovely playing. We had a really good flow to it and everyone was playing well. So it was nice to kind of keep each other going and really try for it.
“I was joking to my caddie and I was like, ‘Oh, it’d be great to finish with an eagle now.’ And my drive actually ended up in a divot, so I was like, ‘Oh God, okay.’ Focus, we just try and get it out and it ended up on the green and just holed that. That’s lovely.”
Försterling meanwhile, a four-time winner on the LET, made two eagles on Thursday. Her first came at the par-4 13th when she holed out with her second shot from 114 yards.
“I don’t know when was the last time that I had two eagles, so I’m very, very happy,” “Försterling said, who posted four birdies and three bogeys to go along with the eagle brace.
The German finished T5 at the Ford Women’s NSW Open two weeks ago and followed this up with a T38 at the Australian Women’s Classic. The results come off the back of a difficult 2025 for Försterling who was competing injured for much of the year.
She continued: “I would say I’m getting closer for sure [to being back to my best]. I keep working on my swing and on my body. I can still feel the back, unfortunately, but it’s holding together. I think the hard work [I put in] during the winter, the hours of hitting balls into the wall in German winter really paid off, so it’s really happy to see.”
One shot back from Försterling in solo fourth is USA’s Anna Morgan. The rookie carded the best round of the afternoon in windy conditions finishing with a birdie at the par-5 9th.
In a tie for fourth on three-under par sit six players: Austria’s Emma Spitz, Australia’s Kelsey Bennett, Italy’s Alessandra Fanali, England’s Annabell Fuller plus French duo Agathe Laisne and Celine Herbin.
Bennett and Laisne are the two most recent winners on the LET having won at Magenta Shores and Wollongong during the circuit’s Aussie swing. The former, Australian Women’s Classic champion Bennett, continued her excellent form on home soil carding five birdies and dropping two shots for a round of 69 (-3).
The 26-year-old said: “My ball striking was pretty solid again today and these greens are just so pure. So if you get a good roll on them, they’re likely to go in. It still feels pretty surreal [to have won last week], so I’m very happy with it.”
Elsewhere on day one at Kooyonga Golf Club, local amateur Raegan Denton made a hole-in-one at the par-3 7th. The 18-year-old would go to go card a three-over par 75.
“To have such a big crowd on that hole-in-one is awesome,” Denton said. “I’ve never had one in a tournament before so it’s a really big moment and I’m so happy.”
Home favourites Hannah Green and Minjee Lee – both Major winners – got off to solid starts in Adelaide carding rounds of 70 (-2) and 72 (PAR) respectively to sit inside the top-25.
Recent LPGA winner Green said: “It was kind of hard to read the greens today with the pin positions. A couple of them I was kind of baffled with, how bad my read was.
“I played with Shannon and Minjee and I felt like Shannon, she didn’t hole anything. So it was kind of tough for us to feel confident on the greens. But all in all, pleased with a two-under-par.”
Playing alongside the pair, LET Order of Merit winner Shannon Tan from Singapore posted an opening round 71 (-1).
The 2026 Women’s Australian Open continues tomorrow morning with round two in Adelaide. Watch live and follow all the action on our socials – @LETgolf on Instagram and X and Ladies European Tour on Facebook and YouTube.
