Welsh rookie Darcey Harry, Sweden’s Moa Folke and Austria’s Emma Spitz are the early leaders at the 2025 Australian Women’s Classic after the trio all opened with superb 64s (-6) at Coffs Harbour Golf Club.
It has been an unconventional week for all involved on the Ladies European Tour (LET) and WPGA Tour after Cyclone Alfred hit New South Wales causing the tournament to be reduced to 54-holes – the 132 player field taking to the course for the first time in round one.
But for Harry, Folke and Spitz, a lack of practice was no such hinderance as all three made scorching starts on Friday to co-lead by two shots.
With the sun shining and fairways dried up, Harry got the ball rolling as she lit up the putter converting four birdies to go out in 30 (-4). The 21-year-old, competing in only her second LET event, followed this up with back-to-back birdies at the 11th and 12th. Despite dropping a shot at the par-4 13th, Harry bounced back well birdying the 14th to post a 64 (-6).
“It was really good,” Harry said. “I think it benefited me not having a practice round because you’re going out and you’re not worrying about certain holes.
“You’re playing it blind, so you don’t have any worries. You’re kind of just going for it. You can play aggressive. I got off a really good start out there. The greens are playing amazing. I can’t believe how dry the course is getting so quickly. It was a lovely day. I mean, the sun’s out, so it’s brilliant.”
Two groups behind, Folke led a charge of her own putting on a relentless display of fairway and green hitting. After a steady start – the Swede was one-under par at the turn – Folke capitalised on her great target play rolling in birdies at the 10th, 11th, 12th, 14th and 15th to fire a bogey-free scorecard.
“I don’t think I missed a fairway out there today!” Folke said. “I’m pretty sure I didn’t miss many greens either. It makes such a difference.”
Hours later the ever-consistent Spitz joined the leaders thanks to seven birdies including four in a row on her back-nine at the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th. After missing the green short on her final hole, the par-4 9th, the Olympian was close to chipping in to take the outright lead.
“I hit a lot of fairways, maybe I missed two or so,” Spitz said, still chasing her maiden LET win. “I hit some really nice iron shots and wedges. I hit a flag once, had a tap-in, had another tap-in on the par-five, and two four-footers for birdies.
“I think the job that [staff and greenkeepers] did here is amazing. You couldn’t tell that it rained so much on this course. I mean, the greens are fantastic.”
Two Aussies sit two shots back on four-under par; LPGA winner Grace Kim and Q-School graduate Kelsey Bennett – both of which played together on Friday morning with the Coffs Harbour locals watching on.
Kim, the 2023 Lotte Championship winner, replaced her driver this week and the decision paid dividends with the Australian failing to drop a shot.
“It felt pretty cruisy,” the 24-year-old said. “I knew that the putts were going to drop eventually, but in the middle, I probably tried too hard I was probably forcing it a bit to get more birdies, and sometimes the contact gets out of whack. I tried to swing freely the last four, and it turned out that works.”
France’s Nastasia Nadaud, Japan’s Ikeba Hinata, plus English duo Cara Gainer and Hannah Screen round off the top-10 on three-under par.
The Australian Women’s Classic continues tomorrow morning at 7:30am local time. You can watch the final two rounds on the LET website or find your local broadcaster.
