Ebba Hellman set the pace on the first day of the Pre-Qualifier – Europe at the 2023 LET Q-School after firing a round of 66 (-5).
The Swede kicked off her Pre-Qualifying campaign on the 10th tee of the North Course at La Manga Club and rolled in a birdie on the 13th and 18th holes.
Hellman then found some momentum making four birdies in the space of six holes and despite dropping a shot on the seventh, she finished at the top of the leaderboard on five-under-par.
“It was really nice,” she said. “You come here, and you don’t really know what to expect. You always have something that you feel like you need to improve.
“My irons worked very well today and even though the swing doesn’t feel perfect, you can manage your way from point a to point b and you just focus on that. It doesn’t always have to be pretty, and I stuck a few close, which was nice. I got a long putt in every now and then, which was fun, and I managed to stay in my rhythm.”
The 24-year-old will tee it up on the South Course tomorrow, but is relishing her first experience playing at LET Q-School.
She explained: “I’m very humble for the fact it’s the first time that I’m playing this course. I know a lot of players have a routine being here, I think my caddie and I made a good plan and we’ll try to stick to that.
“I would really like to stay in Europe, and I think the Tour has improved rapidly in the last two or three years. Tomorrow I’m expecting a lot more longer irons and let’s hope they are good or at least decent and I’m expecting a lot more wind, so I’m going to try and stay patient and try not to get ahead of myself.”
Two players sit in second place with Thailand’s Benyapa Niphatsophon and Austria’s Emma Spitz both on four-under-par.
Niphatsophon, who is known by the nickname ‘Gift’, began with two bogeys in her first three holes but soon found her rhythm rolling in two birdies to make the turn in even par.
The former LPGA Tour player than made four birdies on her back nine on the North course to put herself in an excellent position at the end of day one at La Manga Club.
“I just went out there and had fun,” said the Thai player. “On the practice rounds, I didn’t play the full 18 holes, I played nine and then walked the course. If I hit it straight and was able to make my putts, I thought I could shoot this score, but I’m just having fun and not caring about the result. I just want to do my best.
“The weather is very nice; it’s not too cold for me. I like it and I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow. My aim was to give it a go and see what happens. It’s my first time in Spain and first time playing golf in Europe. I used to play on the LPGA but then I had an injury and I’m trying to do my best here this year with the LET.”
It was a similar story for Spitz who had three bogeys and seven birdies on her way to a round of 69 (-4) on the South Course.
Spitz explained: “It was nice, I started bad because I was two-over after two and I thought it wasn’t going the right way. Then I got it back and was able to make two birdies and I had a three-putt.
“But from then on, my back nine – which is the front nine – was really good and I started hitting some good irons to six- or seven-feet so there was some nice birdie chances, and I made a really long putt which was nice to see too.
“I was solid with everything, I hit most of the fairways and a lot of the greens and I was able to hit some close ones too which gave me good birdie chances. My iron game was nice.
“I think the weather conditions are going to be very different tomorrow, so we’ll see what we get. It’s a different course, but I think the gameplan is going to be the same to stay in play and not be too aggressive, but if I get nice chances, I will try to take them.”
Five players sit in a share of fourth place after the first day with Germany’s Alexandra Försterling, Sweden’s Sandra Kagstrom, Australia’s Kirsten Rudgeley, English amateur Jessica Hall and Malaysia’s Genevieve Ling on three-under; while seven players are a shot further back on two-under-par in T9.
Follow all the action on @LETGolf, @letaccess and @LaMangaClub on Instagram and Twitter and Ladies European Tour on Facebook – #RaiseOurGame #LETQSchool #LaMangaClub.
