Ana Dawson, the first Isle of Man player to compete on the Ladies European Tour, thrived in blustery conditions with a four-under-par 68 to take the first-round lead at the Tipsport Czech Ladies Open in Beroun.
Two eagles, three birdies and one bogey propelled the 22-year-old rookie golf professional into a three-stroke lead on six-under-par after 15 holes, before she lost a ball on the 16th tee and ran up a triple bogey seven. However, she battled back to finish with a birdie on the 18th hole to edge one stroke ahead of four other players.
“It was pretty up and down. There were two eagles and a triple, so it was a real mixed bag, but overall I played pretty well, so I’m not going to look too hard into 16 and it was nice to finish strongly, with a birdie on 18,” said Dawson, who has planted the Manx flag on the LET leaderboard for the first time.
“On the first par three, [the fourth], my ball landed on the edge of the hole and it went about eight feet by, so I thought that was maybe a sign early on and then I holed out for eagle from about 145 yards as well on 13. I can’t remember the last time I holed out from more than 10 yards, so that was a bonus. It was a blind green so to see my ball disappear was actually a good thing for a change.
“On 16, I think I just picked the wind a bit wrong, rushed a bit and then I leaked it a touch right and thought it would be okay. I got down there and I couldn’t find it. I went back and then around 30 seconds later it was okay. That’s always a bit annoying. You’d prefer to just think it’s gone. I dropped a few there but then after that par, birdie finish, I’m over it.
“Obviously there’s a long way to go, but I putted quite nicely so if I can keep doing that, we’ll see. There are two more rounds to play.”
Ana Peláez Trivino from Spain is tied for second with Celine Herbin of France, Ursula Wikstrom from Finland and Diksha Dagar of India on three-under-par 69 at Royal Beroun Golf Club.
New Zealanders Wenyung Keh and Momoka Kobori are tied for sixth place with fellow rookie Alexandra Forsterling, Norwegian Marianne Skarpnord and Sweden’s Linnea Johansson on two-under-par 70.
Peláez Trivino, who has the chance to overtake Aditi Ashok as the top player on the Race to Costa del Sol this weekend, went to the turn in 37 but four birdies in her last five holes saw her come back in 32 as the winds eventually calmed later in the evening.
Herbin went to the turn in 35 and came home in 34. She said: “It was actually a tough day today with a very strong wind. I embraced the challenge as much as I could and I enjoyed my game. To be on minus three in this position, I take it.”
Dagar, who went out in 36 and returned in 33, commented: “From the start I struggled because of the wind, but then later I started to adapt to the conditions and my putting was good.”
Wikstrom, who has her 16-year-old son, Erni, caddying for her this week, made her score on the front nine, which she played in 33.
“I surprisingly made a few long putts, which was great, because with the gusty wind it wasn’t easy. I was prepared for rain, but we were lucky it wasn’t raining, but the temperature dropped about 12 degrees overnight. I don’t know which is easier, rain or wind,” Wikstrom said.
Earlier in the day, Sweden’s Louise Stahle made a hole-in-one on the 11th using a 7-iron. Moments earlier, she was recalling the hole-in-one that she recorded on the same hole, in the same round, in the same tournament, last year. The only difference was that she used a 9-iron to make the ace 12 months ago.
