Chloe Williams fired a flawless opening round of 63 (-9) to hold a two-shot lead at the 2024 Tipsport Czech Ladies Open.
It was an interrupted day for the afternoon wave as play was suspended at 4.12 pm (local time) due to the threat of thunder and lightning but restarted at 6.10 pm (local time) with all groups completing their first round.
But the Welshwoman, who began her round on the 10th tee in the morning wave, was bogey-free on the first day at Royal Beroun Golf Club.
She made back-to-back birdies on holes 11 and 12 before adding further birdies on 14 and 16 to make the turn in four-under.
Williams continued her faultless round with birdies at the first and third holes before making three on the trot on holes five, six and seven to shoot her lowest round on the Ladies European Tour (LET).
“Today was very solid,” said Williams, who also had two chip-ins. “I’m very happy to score my lowest round on the LET. It’s quite funny because I actually didn’t feel like I played my absolute best.
“I just hit it in the right places and holed a lot of putts and I made two chip shots which helps a lot. It all came together in one round.
“It’s like a clean sheet in football! It’s amazing. I’m over the moon to be bogey-free, I couldn’t ask for a better start. I have been here four times.
“Every year I get to know the course more and more. I like it a lot and feel like it suits me. It’s very scoreable, there’s lots of par-5s and I feel if you play well, you can do something like today.”
It hasn’t been the best of starts to 2024 for Williams, who sits 120th in the LET Order of Merit, with one top-30 finish to her name.
But the Welsh player has her dad Paul, who is also her coach, on the bag and they put in a lot of work earlier in the week.
She explained: “I haven’t really had my dad with me on the bag all year yet, I’ve obviously not got off to a great start this season. Having him here halfway through the season has given me what I needed – a re-boost, a reset.
“I didn’t feel like my game was horrendous, but it wasn’t where I wanted it to be for a round like today. We did loads of work, we got here early on Tuesday and put in so much work in the last three days that I was ready to go today and I’m over the moon.
“The long game just didn’t feel quite comfortable. My driver has always been one of my strengths, I’m one of the longer hitters. I feel like the par-5s I can tear it up, but I didn’t feel comfortable with it. A couple of technical checks just on trackman to figure out what it was, and a couple of videos and it’s sorted itself out.”
Finland’s Sanna Nuutinen and Sweden’s Caroline Hedwall both sit in a share of second place on seven-under-par.
The Finn fired a bogey-free 65 which included an eagle and five birdies, and it is a place Nuutinen has fond memories of after she made an albatross at this course in 2021 and has also won in Czechia on the LET Access Series.
“[On the eagle] I had an amazing drive,” said Nuutinen. “I think I found some kind of trampoline with where my ball landed because I only had 150 metres to the flag with a 7-iron and then I made a six-metre putt.
“I was putting well, the greens were rolling really nicely. Obviously, I love playing in Czechia. I have some good history here, making a hole-in-one on a par-four and winning on LETAS and I think I have a couple of Czech fans. I enjoy coming here and there’s some magic here.”
It was also a bogey-free day for seven-time LET winner Hedwall, who rolled in seven birdies on day one at Beroun.
“I played really solid,” said the Solheim Cup star. “I had a lot of birdie opportunities; it feels like I didn’t make that many putts today to be honest. I played really well and it’s always nice to be bogey-free.
“I missed one green and that’s because I picked the wrong club and hit it too far, it was still a really good shot. I felt like I had a chance on every hole and eventually, you’ll start rolling in a couple of them.
“Tomorrow I will try to do the same thing. I switched back to my old irons a couple of weeks ago and I feel like I’m myself again. Hopefully, I can keep this going. It feels nice to be able to know where the ball is going and I feel very confident.”
Alexandra Swayne of the U.S. Virgin Islands sits in outright fourth place on six-under-par after her bogey-free 66 on the first day.
The 24-year-old, who teed off from the tenth, made her four birdies in six holes on her front nine before rolling in back-to-back birdies on the first and second holes to be three shots behind the leader.
“It was a good day,” said Swayne. “I had a lot of fun out there. I hit 18 greens today, so that kind of helped. I made a few long putts, but I also left some out there. It was good, everything was going well. I’m having a lot of fun with my caddie.
“I hired him for three weeks in South Africa and then I asked him to come to Europe and it’s been great. I’m super happy with him. It will be interesting to look at the schedule and see which events he can come to because he’s from South Africa.
“But I’m really pleased with how we’re working. We have been on the same level, the same wavelength the entire time he has caddied for me.”
There are seven players in a share of fifth place with Elena Moosmann, Marianne Skarpnord, Maria Hernandez, Eleanor Givens, Virginia Elena Carta, Emma Spitz and Hannah Screen all on five-under-par.
The second round will begin at 7.45 am (local time) on Saturday and there will be a cut to the top-60 professionals and ties at the end of the day.
Follow all the action throughout on our socials – @LETgolf on Instagram, TikTok and X, and Ladies European Tour on YouTube and Facebook – #RaiseOurGame #CzechLadiesOpen.
