Switzerland’s Natalie Armbruester and Australia’s Kristalle Blum both shot opening rounds of three-under 69 at Panorama Golf Resort to share the lead at the Raiffeisen Bank Czech Ladies Challenge.
Taking advantage of their morning tee times with sunnier weather, Armbruester and Blum were among only six players to finish under-par among the 132-strong player field on the LET Access Series (LETAS).
On a hilly, tricky course with narrow fairways, Arkea Montauban Ladies Open champion Lauren Holmey briefly held the solo lead at four-under, after a chip-in eagle on the par-5 8th, but bogeys on holes 15 and 16 dropped the LETAS Order of Merit leader back into third place at two-under overall.
Armbruester, who turned professional in 2025, said: “Coming into the tournament I definitely had a lot of respect for the course, knowing that it’s quite difficult. You have a lot of uneven lies and visually it’s quite demanding.
“I was very pleased with my round today. I started off a little nervous but was able to keep my nerves under control. I hit a lot of greens today, which really helps on this golf course. If you miss the green, it’s very hard to make up and downs.
“I think I hit 16 greens from memory, which really helped, and I had good pace control, so I was two-putting a lot today. So actually, it was a pretty stress-free round, which is surprising on this course.”
The Swiss 26-year-old was the only golfer to go bogey-free on Friday, sinking three birdies on holes eight, 10 and 15 to go alongside her 15 pars.
Currently fourth in the LETAS Order of Merit leaderboard, Armbruester has started the season strong with a second-place finish in Morocco and a T-9 result in Austria.
She said: “I feel like I used the off season quite well to sharpen my game, work out some weaknesses that I had, so I feel like I’m in control of my game.
“My dad absolutely loves golf, so he introduced me to the game, and I fell in love with it instantly. Pretty much for the past 16 years or so, it’s consumed my life, but I love it, and I still have a great passion for the game.
“I’d love to graduate (onto the LET), being the top seven graduates, but I’m trying to stay very present, just play week by week. For now, I’m gonna just focus on getting these next two rounds in.”
For Blum, who came solo second in Montauban last week, there has been a noticeable upswing in her game.
“That was a really good confidence booster, and this game is so much driven by that,” she said. “My preparation had been really good before coming here, so it’s good to see those results paying off.
“I’ve been working hard with my mum, she’s my coach, and we’ve been trying to iron out some of the finer things. I’m probably most pleased with my putting today, which is definitely new for me because it’s something I’ve always struggled with.
“My irons are just really solid again. I didn’t hit them great in the first two rounds last week, but I did some work with mum after the second round, and it was like the smallest tweaks, but made such a difference before the final round last week.
“She’s not with me, but we do a lot of FaceTimes. She’d probably prefer to be here, but she’ll be staying at home this year. I send her a lot of videos, and I guess that’s a positive about her being my coach.
“I can basically call her at whatever time and she’ll answer, so that makes life a bit easier, and yeah, it’s just good to see the work paying off.”
Blum mixed five birdies with two bogeys, with both dropped shots coming on the back nine.
“It’s so easy to make a bogey out there, this golf course is very hard with the wind picking up as well,” she said.
“One of them was a three putt, I just misread the putt, and the other one was a missed green. I just stayed really patient. I mean, you’re always going to probably make a bogey out there on this golf course.”
Further down the leaderboard, the trio of Anais Meyssonnier, Tiffany Arafi and Natacha Host Husted are tied for fourth at one-under.
With rain hitting the course and facing blustery conditions in the afternoon, Host Husted was the only player to finish in red figures from the afternoon session.
Englishwoman Rebecca Earl, who shot an even-par 72, scored her third career hole-in-one at the par-3 7th.
“Last year, same pin, I was like maybe a foot short,” she said. “So hit 50 degrees today, full one, we saw it go in which was really exciting. I got my sister caddying for me this week, so she’s clearly a lucky charm.
“My first one was just in practice, in 2022, my second one was actually in college, I slam dunked an eight-iron so yeah, third one was pretty good in another tournament which is nice.”
Round two will begin at 7.45am (local time) and there will be a cut to the top 45 professionals and ties at the end of the day.
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