New Zealand’s Amy Walsh thrived in sunny, dry conditions to card four-under-par (68) to take the first-round lead at the Vasteras Open by Elite Hotels.
The 27-year-old started on hole 10 and had a shaky start after hooking her first tee-shot into the hazard but six birdies and one bogey propelled the 27-year-old golf professional into a two-stroke lead on five under-par after 17 holes, before a bogey on the ninth set her back one shot.
Speaking about the round, Walsh said: “I played solidly, and I took advantage of the par fives.
“I feel I probably got slightly fortunate on a couple of tee shots, but I think my putting was probably what held the round together.
For its 2023 edition, the Vasteras Open is being held for the first time at Fullerö Golfklubb.
“The course is firm especially the fairways. The greens are not as firm which makes it a little bit easier, but it is around the greens, so you must be sort of cautious if you do miss.
“You must think about where it could end up, so a little bit of strategy is needed other than that it is a nice course, great weather, and a good walk.
Walsh previously had a lowest tournament round of 69, so today the Australian has gone one better producing her best first round to date since 2015 when Walsh started playing across LET and LET Access events (LETAS), yet Walsh is determined to not let nerves change her game.
‘I don’t think I will feel any pressure going into tomorrow, I’ve kind of had a lot of struggles with my game the past couple of years, I’ve had a bit going on with what I’ve been working on so it’s nice to see that they have come together today and if it happens again tomorrow, I’ll be happy but otherwise I’ve still had some positives from this week and hopefully I can have a few more for the next couple days.”
Hot on Walsh’s heels, five players are one stroke behind on three-under-par including fellow Australian Kelsey Bennett.
Bennett, who started from 10, carded an almost faultless round with two birdies on her second and seventh hole and another two to match on her back nine.
However, a bogey on the last set her one shot behind her compatriot.
Speaking about the first day, Bennett said: “It was a good round, I saved a couple of pars and obviously made some good birdies, so it was both offensive and defensive today.
“My strengths were probably off the tee, I hit a lot of fairways today. I capitalised on the times I needed to hole the putts.
Bennett has had a steady start to the season, making the cut in Montauban, her first event on the tour but is unsure why the Australians are on fire so far this week.
“Potentially it’s something about the course, I did steal Amy’s trolley after she used it this morning, so it could be the trolley maybe, a lucky trolley.”
69 is Bennett’s best round on LETAS to date, her previous lowest being 73 in France but the 23-year-old is keen to keep calm for the next two days.
“Tomorrow, I just want to focus on consistency off the tee, I just need to hit some fairways and there’s any possibility for a good score for sure.
“To win here would be pretty special as it’s only my third event on the LET Access series so it would definitely mean a lot, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself.
“So far on tour, it’s been great, I’ve been travelling with a couple of the other girls and their showing me the ropes which is lovely.”
Joining Bennett on three-under-par is Scotland’s Gabrielle MacDonald, France’s Lucie Andre, the Netherland’s Marit Harryvan and Denmark’s Puk Lyng Thomsen.
Speaking about her round, Thomsen said: “I felt very comfortable today, I tried to take one shot at a time and see how many birdie opportunities I could make.
“I think this is a short course because it’s so dry, so definitely the short game needs to be a strength.
“I holed some good putts and had some good 30, 40 metre chips.
“Tomorrow I’m going to do the same strategy, try to keep the same from the tee and be aware of the wind because it can turn around a lot in the woods.”
The 25-year-old has had a difficult time since 2020, whilst an Amateur the Dane achieved a career best ranking of 13 on WAGR but a severe back injury that required surgery meant no play during the 2020 and 2021 season.
Despite this, Lyng Thomsen has had a strong rookie season so far on LETAS ranking 18th in the Order of Merit and fourth on the Rookie of the Year list.
“Since Czechia, I’ve been doing a lot of practice, but I also had a qualitive methods exam, so it was about balancing both studying and practice.
“A win here would mean everything to me as I’ve had some rough years coming back from back surgery and that toot a couple years for me to get back, so it would mean a lot.
“It would mean more self-belief and that I can keep going and go to the LET next year, that’s the goal.”
Three players sit in T7, Sweden’s My Leander and amateur Kajsa Arwefjall alongside the Netherland’s Zhen Bontan.
The second round begins at 8.00 am local time on Friday morning and there will be a cut to the top-45 professionals and ties after 36 holes.
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