English duo Florentyna Parker and Rosie Davies fired a pair of three-under-par 69s in perfect conditions at Aloha Golf Club on Thursday morning to share the clubhouse lead at the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España Femenino.
Parker recorded six birdies and three bogeys, while Davies carded three birdies, on the second, third and 18th holes.
The Ladies European Tour rookie, from Wandsworth, London, commented: “I played pretty well today. I struck the ball well. I took my chances when they came. I left a few shots out there. I had a few short birdie putts which I wanted to make but obviously you can’t make them all. I really stuck to my game plan of hitting it to the widest part of the fairway and attacking the pins. The greens are really slopey and you need to position yourself on the green, so I was hitting it to the right parts of the green and giving myself birdie opportunities.”
Parker, a two-time winner on the Ladies European Tour, was five-under-par after making six birdies and one bogey in her first 14 holes, but dropped shots on 15 and 17. She said: “I played quite solid today and had a lot of birdies which is good for me and unusual. It felt like at the LEM I was playing well and just couldn’t get the ball in the hole. Today it was good. Six birdies, three bogeys, I’ll take it.”
Former order of merit winner Gwladys Nocera from France was just one stroke from the lead as the next best positioned of the morning starters. She carded three birdies against one dropped shot and commented: “When I first saw the course on Tuesday, I thought it was good for me. Today I stayed patient. I didn’t start very well. I left a lot of putts there but the greens are tricky to read. There is a lot of grain. It’s always good to shoot a low score on the first day.”
As the winds increased for the afternoon wave, Lynn Carlsson of Sweden was making steady progress with two birdies in her first three holes.
Meanwhile, local star Azahara Muñoz was two-under-par through 11 holes before she double bogeyed the par-4 12th hole after hitting her drive left into a lake and having to take a drop onto a steep slope.
She completed an opening round of 72 and said afterwards: “You can never complain about level par. Obviously I would have liked to have holed more putts and I was in a little bit of trouble off the tee. I wasn’t hitting the ball well at all yesterday and my irons were pretty good today so I just need to straighten my driver and hopefully make a few more putts. Three shots is nothing in one day, much less three rounds. I’m still in there and I’m going to keep on fighting.”
Play continues in bright sunshine and temperatures of 28C.
