Slovenia’s Katja Pogacar came out hot at the Hauts De France Pas De Calais Golf Open to fire an opening round of six-under-par (67) at Golf Saint Omer.
It was a flawless day for the 29-year-old who started off strong with a birdie on the first followed by seven consecutive pars before rolling in another birdie on the ninth.
At the turn, Pogacar continued the fine form to card another four birdies on holes 14,15, 17 and 18.
Speaking about the first round, Pogacar said: “Today was a solid round, I did make some mistakes, but I bounced back easily.
“I’m super happy with the long putt for par on the 13th. I hit good tee shots and hit greens and had some good putts on the way.
It’s been a successful season so far for the Slovenian who has had three top-10 finishes on tour including a second-place finish at the Montauban Ladies Open in June.
Pogacar has made all the cuts in tournaments she has played in so far and consequently sits in eighth position on the LETAS Order of Merit with 826.63 points, 158.6 points outside the crucial top six spots.
“I’m loving the golf and the tour now. I will just take one shot at a time this weekend.
“I really like the course as it reminds me of my home course, and I feel like I know what to do in certain situations.
“It’s also really fun to play similar golf to the guys.”
Hot on Pogacar’s heels four golfers sit on four-under-par including Germany’s Luisa Gudert, Spain’s Clara Moyano Reigosa, England’s Ellie Gower and last week’s Rose Ladies Open winner Chiara Tamburlini.
Tamburlini was certainly one to watch coming into the tournament this week after winning the Rose Ladies Open and the PGA Championship Gothenburg within three weeks of turning professional.
It was a less steady round for the 23-year-old who carded two bogeys, four birdies and one eagle.
Speaking about the round, the young Swiss star said: “It was a bit of a roller coaster round today. I started off strong and solid. I had a birdie putt on every hole, the first eight holes or so but I didn’t really make many of them.
“I screwed up a couple of tee shots mid round. I had to chip out twice. So that wasn’t great. Then it came together, and I got an eagle putt which was a short three metre. That helped me to gain back control.
“My driver wasn’t so strong today, but other than that it was steady.”
The recent University of Mississippi graduate has had quite the back end of the season with two wins as well as three more top-10 places.
Now Tamburlini sits in third on the Order of Merit tables after last week’s win and turned down an invite to play the LET Swiss event this week in favour of focusing on securing her 2024 LET card.
“It’s hard after last week to not have too high expectations and just expect to win again but that’s not how it always goes.
“At the same time, it gives you confidence. Today when I hit an out of bounds on the twelve, I knew I could bounce back because I’ve done it recently. In that aspect having two wins in the bag really helps you.”
Further down the leaderboard, four players sit one shot behind the chasing pack on three-under-par: Finland’s Tia Teiniketo, Sweden’s Corinne Viden and Elin Kumlin and Spain’s Maria Herraez Galvez.
Round two starts at 8:30am local time and at the conclusion of play there will be a cut to the top-30 professionals and ties.
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