Charlotte Laffar fired an opening round of 66 (-6) on the first day of the 2025 ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open at Dundonald Links.
The English player began her day with a bogey at the first before back-to-back birdies on three and four, she added a further birdie on the seventh to make the turn in two-under.
Laffar found some momentum after the turn rolling in four birdies in five holes between 10 and 14 before another dropped shot on 15.
However, she bounced back rolling in a 20-footer for birdie at the 17th hole to sit alone at the top of the leaderboard on six-under-par.
“It was an amazing day,” said Laffar. “I started with a bogey actually, but sometimes it goes that way. You relax into it. I holed some great putts, and I hit my driver the best I’ve hit it for a long time. I really took advantage of that.
“When you roll it in and they’re dropping, you just have to keep going and keep plodding along. I managed to stay in the moment better than I normally do, which is quite nice, and having David on the bag helps. The wind was challenging at times, but I enjoyed the test.
“It’s nice to still see I can still shoot low, even knowing I was going low and kept it going low with a couple of bad shots. Don’t get me wrong, I got a couple of lucky bounces, but you get that in golf. That’s what happens when you’re having a good day.”
Laffar only returned to the Ladies European Tour (LET) in May at the Aramco Korea Championship after taking four years off to have her sons Freddie and Oscar.
The 32-year-old is joined on the course by her husband David, who is caddying for her, and the children are in Scotland and being looked after by grandparents.
“I’ve got no pressure at all,” she continued. “Golf is a lot of people’s lives out here, but my children are my life. So, this has become more of a working hobby, I suppose you could say. I’ve just got to enjoy every moment. I don’t know how long I’m going to do it for. I will see how it goes. I’ve got to show the kids how I used to play.”
“I don’t get as much time as I used to, but the time I have, I use a lot more wisely than I ever used to. I only get two and a half, three days a week to do full practice, but that’s probably better than I ever had having seven days a week. I think that’s why it’s a lot more focused and a lot more concentrated on what I need to do, and I’m having a bit more fun with it.
“This week, I’ve got my mum and stepdad, and my dad and stepmum, and my in-laws. At home, they’re all close by, and they help out. My oldest starts school in September, but they both go to nursery at the moment.”
Five players are in a share of second place with Ireland’s Leona Maguire, Japan’s Rio Takeda, Spain’s Nuria Iturrioz, England’s Lottie Woad and Thailand’s Arpichaya Yubol all on five-under-par.
Ireland’s Maguire had a bogey-free opening round of 67 (-5), which included an eagle hole-out on her first hole of the day.
“I couldn’t really ask for a better start,” said Maguire. “I holed out with a 9-iron on 10, our first hole today in pretty much perfect conditions for most of the front nine. I tried to take advantage of that as much as I could.
“It’s always a bonus when those shots go in and I hit the flag even on 18 as well with my pitch in. My approach is nicely dialled and first week with a new caddie. He was joking, he might as well have walked in after the first, but nice start to the week.
“I grew up playing quite a lot [of links] in our amateur days. I don’t get to do it often anymore. I played some golf in Ireland last week, went to Portmarnock, which was nice prep. This is not the firmest, but you still have to be creative with the wind. Hopefully the course will keep drying out as the week goes on and we’ll get more linksy.”
2025 KPMG Women’s Irish Open champion Woad, who made her professional debut today, rolled in six birdies and only one bogey on day one in Scotland.
“I just played solid and hit a lot of greens, it was pretty stress-free most of the day,” said Woad, who played alongside Nelly Korda and Charley Hull. “I’m just trying to keep as much momentum as possible and keep playing how I was playing. It worked today, so I will just try and do that again the next few days.
“It didn’t feel too different today. I think having all the experience I’ve had in majors and contending gave me all I needed, and I didn’t really have to change much. There were a lot of crowds today, which was nice, especially teeing off so early. Everyone in our group played well, so we could feed off each other a little bit.”
It was a similar day for four-time LET winner Iturrioz as she dropped her only shot on the first, making bogeys on the fourth, seventh, ninth, 10th, 14th and 15th holes.
“The conditions this morning were pretty still until hole 14, so I had to take advantage of that,” said the Spaniard. “I’m feeling great, and many putts dropped in, so I’m happy. I’m hitting the ball good and just enjoying it.
“Everything was working well. I just made one bogey, which was a three-putt on one, but it’s normal because links golf is always challenging. The more of a challenge you have, the better I enjoy it.
“Tomorrow it’s going to be late in the afternoon, so it might be more windy. You cannot plan in links golf, so we will see. Whatever I feel when I wake up is what I’m going to try and do.”
Thailand’s Yubol had a steady start with two bogeys and two birdies on her front nine before rolling in five birdies on her back nine for her round of 67 (-5).
“I tried to keep my driver on the fairway, sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t,” said Yubol. “I can still play on the green and I have many chances to make a birdie. My putter worked today, and the ball kept rolling in the hole many times.
“This is my fourth time here, so every time is different. I remember the first time was really windy and rainy and cold. Then this year, it’s different for me. It’s warm and not too windy. It’s perfect weather for golfI see the sun and it makes me so happy.”
In a tightly-packed leaderboard, there are 10 players just one further shot back including world number Nelly Korda in T7 on four-under.
Round two will begin at 7.30 am (local time) with a cut to the top 65 players and ties at the end of the day at Dundonald Links.
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