Christine Wolf and Linn Grant are tied at the top of the leaderboard on seven-under-par after the end of the first day of the VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open.
Due to heavy rain on Wednesday night, play was delayed by one hour in the morning but once it resumed it was a clear and sunny day.
It was an excellent opening day for Wolf, who only had one bogey on her scorecard alongside eight birdies for her round of 65.
“It was a very nice day,” said the Austrian. “I played very solidly, and you could go at the pins which was very nice.
“I made a few really good putts, and I just had a really good time out there. Playing alongside Manon [De Roey] and Ursula [Wikstrom] we didn’t play a hole without one birdie for the first eight or nine holes, so we were pushing each other which was really nice.
“It’s only just over three-hour drive from here to home and I’ve been here many times before, so it feels like I’m coming home and I’m enjoying this week.”
Wolf took some time off and went travelling in South America earlier in the year but returned to the Tour at the end of July.
The 33-year-old is enjoying being back and feels more relaxed since returning to the world of professional golf.
She continued: “It’s something I always wanted to do, and it felt like something I wanted to do now. I feel more relaxed and I’m very happy to be back out here and playing. It’s really nice to see all the girls and be enjoying it. Towards the end of my trip, I was ready to come back and play and it just felt right.”
Wolf is level at the top with four-time LET winner Grant, who had an unusual start to her tournament week as she hasn’t played a practice round.
The 23-year-old, who won the Skaftö Open a couple of weeks ago, dropped her only shot of the day at the 10th and had an excellent finish with four birdies in her final four holes to also be on seven-under-par.
“I felt I was playing well all day and had a lot of putts inside three or four metres that I couldn’t get in,” said the Swede. “I felt like I was owed birdies on the last four holes, they were mine, so I just went for them.
“I sent my brother and my boyfriend to walk the course and have a look at it. They did a good job, they had pictures and videos and notes. I think I felt a bit more free to be more aggressive because I didn’t know where all the problems were.
“There is a lot of holes where you don’t see the fairway and there’s blind shots, so I had to be confident with what Pontus was saying. I think all the holes were good except for one, where I made a bogey. Sometimes it is just nice knowing that’s the line I’m taking and that’s the only thing I know, maybe it’s a new strategy.”
Four players are in a tie for third place on five-under-par with India’s Amandeep Drall, Germany’s Luisa Dittrich, Finland’s Karina Kukkonen and England’s Rosie Davies shooting rounds of 68.
It was also a fantastic finish for Davies, who rolled in all of her birdies on the back nine for a bogey-free round.
“I felt like I had a chance on pretty much every hole out there, but the putter got hot on the back nine and it was pretty solid,” said the English golfer.
“I birdied 10, I was in the left rough and took a chance trying to hit a high 5-wood. I hit it on the green and two-putted and up until that point I was a bit tentative and that kick-started a nice run of birdies.”
One shot further back on four-under are nine players including French duo Anne-Lise Caudal and Charlotte Liautier alongside Wales’ Becky Morgan, Scotland’s Kylie Henry, Eswatini’s Nobuhle Dlamini, Germany’s Alexandra Försterling, Finland’s Ursula Wikstrom, England’s Liz Young and Italy’s Lucrezia Colombotto Rosso.
Round one will resume at 8am local time with the final groups completing their remaining holes, while round two will be starting as published with the first group teeing off at 7.30am.
The LET will be holding a two-minute silence at the VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open on Friday at 2.20pm local time following the news of the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
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