The first round of the Joburg Ladies Open was suspended at 4:13pm (local time) due to a flooded course at Modderfontein Golf Club. Eight groups are still yet to finish 18 holes and will resume tomorrow at 7am to complete their rounds.
England’s Mimi Rhodes was able to finish 18 holes and continue her dream start in her rookie season, to lead with a round of 65 (-8).
The 23-year-old, who started on the 10th tee, started her round with a birdie which set the tone for the rest of the day. Rhodes secured a bogey-free round, making back-to-back birdies on holes 12 and 13, followed by a further birdie on 16. The rookie then had a further birdie blitz on the front nine, with four more to finish the round eight-under par.
“I’m really happy with how today went”, said Rhodes. “I just think that you need to place yourself well on the fairway and then you’ll have a really nice shot onto the green. I had a lot of putts inside 10 feet that I happened to hold today, and I still think that I left some out there.
“My putts seemed to be rolling in today really nicely, and I hope they continue to do that for the rest of the week. I’m not going to get ahead of myself and just want to keep having fun out there, she continued.”
Just two weeks ago, Rhodes secured her maiden Ladies European Tour (LET) title at the Ford Women’s NSW Open in Australia. She is hoping this momentum continues for the rest of the week.
“The momentum is definitely still there from Australia and it’s helping me for sure at the start of this tournament. It’s only a week later so it has really boosted my confidence and especially my putting. I’m in a really good headspace right now and it’s just positive vibes out there”, said Rhodes.
“Whenever I can see a leaderboard around me, I’ll take a little glance at it, but it’s early days still, so I don’t really let it affect me. I played with Lee-Anne [Pace] and Marta [Martin] today and it was really fun out there. We were just chatting throughout and it just went by so quickly.”
South Africa’s Casandra Alexander currently sits in second place with a round of 66 (-7), dropping her only shot of the day on the 3rd hole.
Alexander has previously won this event, back in 2021 at a different course – Soweto Country Club – and before it was co-sanctioned with the LET. Only one-shot off the lead, this is a solid start for the local looking to seal her first LET win.
“Surprisingly today I felt really good. I didn’t sleep last night as my dog kept me up so maybe that’s the gameplan for tomorrow. I hit my shots nicely, I hit them in the correct positions. Would I say it was my A game; it was probably my B+ game so played ok. Rolled the putter well. The one drop was maybe the worst shot of the day but very happy otherwise”, said Alexander.
Having had a very successful couple of months on the Sunshine Ladies Tour (SLT), securing four top-five finishes, Alexander has kept her form going this week.
Talking about her recent performances she said: “The team and I have been working really hard, and this is what we’ve been striving for. I actually sat down with my mental coach on Wednesday, and I just said to him, I feel like it’s been a lot, and he said you’ve literally worked for this – you’ve worked to be in contention every week, so we’ve got to take it on the chin and learn how to deal with it. I think we’re in a great position, it’s a different position to what I’ve been in, but that’s exactly what we worked for, so we’ll deal with it how we need to and keep performing.”
It’s a tight leaderboard after 18 holes, with Singapore’s Shannon Tan sitting only one shot back. Tan played here in 2024 where she came T13, alongside Alexander, so they’re keeping it close again this year.
The 20-year-old had a consistent round with seven birdies, dropping her only shot of the day on the 7th hole.
“I think I probably only missed two greens today, so happy with that as it gives you lots of chances.,” Tan said. “The greens are really soft which is good and almost every pin you could go for it. It rained for a bit out there but it wasn’t bad. On holes 11, 12 and 14, the wind picked up a bit so the course can get a bit tough but it was a good day overall.”
Ireland’s Lauren Walsh and India’s Pranavi Urs are currently in a tie for fourth place on five-under par, with Urs still to play four holes.
Lauren Walsh had a great final nine holes, securing fourth place after the first round. Walsh, who started the day also on the 10th tee, made par for her first nine holes, but then had a string of birdies on the front to finish the round five under par.
“It was pretty solid round, bogey-free which is always nice. I hit the ball ok on the front nine and in the end just kept it to pars which kept me going. Then I just stayed patient and knew the chances would come in on the back nine. I was able to hit one close on two which kick-started the back nine, then made five birdies which was great”, said the Irishwoman.
Three players are currently in a tie for sixth place on four-under par. England’s Alice Hewson and Sweden’s Kajsa Arwefjall both fired rounds of 69 (-4), while another English star, Hannah Screen, is currently four-under par with two holes left to play.
Play will restart at 7am local time tomorrow at Modderfontein Golf Club, with players finishing round one and round two commencing.
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