It’s a tightly packed leaderboard at the end of the first day of La Sella Open with Virginia Elena Carta, Helen Briem and Elina Nummenpaa sharing the lead on five-under-par.
La Sella Golf Resort hosts the €1,000,000 event and it was a good start for Italy’s Carta who fired a bogey-free 67 (-5) on day one.
The Italian rolled in birdies on holes two and three before adding another on the seventh, she then made two birdies in the last two holes to seal the clubhouse lead on five-under.
“It was a lovely day out there,” said Carta. “I felt like the game was back to where it has been for the whole year. I was very patient, and I think that got rewarded closing out with two birdies in the last two holes.
“It’s been a year of trying to build up my putting game. I must say it’s all thanks also to my long game being so consistent the whole year, otherwise I would not be standing here right now.
“I worked a lot on my long game to make sure I kept that the same and then I added a lot of work on putting. I have been working very hard, so I’m happy it paid off today and I could have made some short putts here and there, but I got rewarded for just being patient. I ended up making two really good putts in the last two.”
Carta has recently added two-time LET winner Becky Brewerton to her team as her caddie and has been enjoying working with the Solheim Cup player.
She continued: “Becky [Brewerton] is such a great addition to the team, it’s the best thing that probably could’ve happened to me, I think. I’m just so grateful and lucky to have her with me on the course. It’s very nice to have her with me.
“I struggled a lot with the really good long game I had this year, I would get quite emotional on the course and just frustrated when putts were not dropping so with her by my side, I’m able to stay present and stay focussed and hit one shot at a time.
“If a putt doesn’t go in, it doesn’t matter. The reaction right after is just a positive reaction and we move on to the next shot. I’m really happy and lucky to have her on the bag.”
Germany’s Briem, who is a four-time winner on the LET Access Series (LETAS), also had a good start producing a round of five-under.
The teenager rolled in eight birdies in her first round, as well as three bogeys in Spain to join Carta at the top of the leaderboard.
“I think it was a solid start, I hit a lot of fairways and greens and holed some putts. I’m happy with it,” said Briem.
“I was in a playoff for an LET victory, I know what I’m able to do if I have some good days and today was a good start and I will try to do that tomorrow again.
“The front and back nine are different from each other. The first nine is way more open from the tee and the second nine is very tight. I had a little bit of trouble on the holes over the road, but it was a solid round and the putter was okay.
“I don’t see myself as a favourite, it’s just my third professional event. I’m a newcomer and I’ll see where I end up. I’m just having fun and experiencing my first professional events.”
Finland’s Nummenpaa was in the afternoon wave and had six birdies and one bogey on her scorecard for her round of 67 (-5).
“I just went out to play and I was just focussing on the process, reading the putts. I just went to play golf and play shots, that’s all I went to do, and it worked,” said the Finn.
“In general, the game was pretty decent. I felt pretty good with almost everything, of course I wish I would have made some two-to-three metre birdie putts. I made some longer ones, I had a chip-in on the tricky 13.
“On Sunday, I played in a family cup with my dad. I did a lot of practice in Finland and played a little bit more than I did maybe normally. With the swing, it felt better to be playing more at home rather than just focussing on the technical parts.
“I think that’s something I was doing on the golf course as well; I was just playing. I tried not to think about the swing too much and find the freedom to swing the club, that’s something that paid off.”
Five players are in a share of fourth place with Samantha Bruce of the Philippines, Finland’s Ursula Wikstrom, France’s Nastasia Nadaud, Japan’s Ayako Uehara and Australia’s Kirsten Rudgeley all on four-under-par.
It’s a tight leaderboard with eight players only one shot further back in a share of ninth place on three-under-par at the 2024 La Sella Open.
The second round will begin at 8.30 am (local time) and there will be a cut to the top 60 professionals and ties at the end of the day.
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