Team Van Dam sits at the top of the leaderboard on -16 in the Team competition at the Aramco Team Series presented by PIF – Hong Kong but there are plenty of teams chasing them down.
Of the four teams in second place at the end of the first day at Hong Kong Golf Club, three of them are led by Spaniards.
Carmen Alonso, Nuria Iturrioz and Carlota Ciganda are all captains this week, all winners on the LET in 2023 and their teams all sit in T2 on 13-under-par.
Iturrioz has had previous success in this format being part of the winning Team Roussin at the Aramco Team Series presented by PIF – Florida in May.
And like in that tournament, the four-time LET winner is contending in both competitions in Hong Kong as well and she sits in third place on five-under in the Individual standings.
Speaking after her round, Iturrioz said: “It’s good vibes only in this team, it was great and a fantastic day. The amateur was really nice also, he played really well.
“I did my best, I tried. We played like a team because when someone missed the other was there. I’m really happy with them and let’s go for tomorrow. It’s the same plan as today, good vibes only.”
Ciganda has arrived in Hong Kong fresh from helping Europe retain the Solheim Cup on home soil in Spain.
The seven-time LET winner carded a round of one-under 72 Individually on day one and captained her team to a total of -13.
Ciganda commented: “We had a very nice team, the amateur played amazing. She was great and she came in on a few holes and it was great that she was motivated and excited to be there. I like the course, I played good just too many bogeys and one double but six birdies, so we will see tomorrow.”
In July, Alonso finally got her maiden LET victory winning in Finland and the quartet of herself, Kirsten Rudgeley, Felicity Johson and amateur Zoie Chan also sit on 13-under.
After the first round, Alonso explained: “I didn’t play good, but one of our players Kirsten [Rudgeley] played really really good so I’m happy for her and I think she put a lot of effort and we tried to support her.
“I hope tomorrow is going to be better and we make more birdies, and we can help her and do well as a team. The game plan is to still support each other all the time and make a lot of birdies.”
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