Denmark’s Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen showed she meant business after carding an almost flawless first round of 66 (-6) to take the first day lead at the Lombardia Ladies Open.
The Order of Merit and Rookie of the Year leader had a steady front nine of two birdies and all pars before firing up the flatstick at the turn to make two consecutive birdies on holes 10 and 11.
Two more consecutive birdies on the final two holes and a bogey on the 16th puts the Dane with a two-shot lead going into round two tomorrow at Golf Club Varese.
“I feel very good,” the Dane admitted. “I feel like my game is very solid right now.
“I might have played this course a bit defensive from the tee, but I feel like that was the right choice for me and I made a lot of birdies out there.
“I haven’t done that for a while, so it was good to get that feeling.”
The 24-year-old rookie comes to Italy off the back of a successful week at the Lacoste Ladies Open where she made her first cut on the LET.
“Making the cut last week at Lacoste helped me with my confidence. I played solid there, but I couldn’t finish well.
“I made some bogeys coming in from the back nine and today it was important for me to stay in the moment and keep fighting and make some birdies at the end.
Kibsgaard has made quite the impression on her first year on LETAS. After three second places, the Dane finally entered the winner’s circle at the Montauban Ladies Open in June before securing another win at the Capio Ogon Trophy in Sweden.
Now Kibsgaard Nielsen is determined to keep her top spot on the Order of Merit table.
“Coming into this week, I feel it was important for me to just keep going and keep working on the stuff I want to improve and prepare myself for next year.
“To win again would be fun but to keep my top position on the Order of Merit is the goal for this week.”
Two shots behind Kibsgaard Nielsen lies Ireland’s Lauren Walsh and Switzerland’s Chiara Tamburlini on four-under-par.
Walsh, who started on ten made a solid start carding two birdies on holes 10 and 18 before rolling in a further three birdies on holes four, six and seven before dropping back a shot on the last.
“I played well all day,” the Irishwoman said, “I made a bogey on the last which is a little unfortunate, but I made a lot of nice birdies and played consistently and hit a couple close which is nice.
“The course is tight off the tee and the greens are small, so I guess that suits me as the strongest part of my game usually is my irons.”
Whilst Walsh has only played in three LETAS events this season, the 23-year-old has finished top-10 in all of them, including a second-place finish at the Trust Golf Link Series at Ramside Hall in July.
“I think to go better than Ramside and to win one would be nice. Coming out here it’s always a goal to win. Playing well today was a good start and hopefully I can follow that up the next two days.”
Walsh plans to see out the season on LETAS by competing in the next run of events in Spain and has her eyes on finishing in the top-21 players to skip the pre-qualifiers at Q School.
“I’m excited for Spain and it’s nice to compete this time of the year and get these opportunities.
“I’m thinking about the Order of Merit and being able to skip Pre-Qualifiers at Q school would be great and if I have two good weeks maybe the top six is in the picture.
“I’m just trying to hit good golf shots and stay consistent on the course and hopefully that looks after itself.”
Switzerland’s Chiara Tamburlini sits alongside Walsh in second after carding six birdies and two bogeys.
“I had a lot of fun out there today, my best friend from home caddied for me so I was in a good mood all day no matter what happened.
“I had two or three people watching as well and supporting me which was great, my coach was here so the whole vibe was just very familiar.
“Tomorrow, I want to keep the good mood, take it shot by shot and not get upset if things go wrong and just keep moving forward.”
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