Denmark’s Amalie Leth-Nissen produced the second lowest opening round in the tournament’s history, 65 (-7) to set the pace at the Terre Blanche Ladies Open.
The 20-year-old carded a flawless round with birdies on holes three, four and six before following it up with four more on the back nine.
Speaking about the round, Leth-Nissen said: “It’s the first tournament back, so you never know how much rust you have to dust off, but I think it went well.”
Leth-Nissen, was solo second at the 2021 edition of the tournament, four strokes behind LPGA and Solheim Cup player Linn Grant.
“I’ve played here twice before and I’m using that to my advantage. It’s good to know where you want to place yourself out here.
“Tomorrow I’m just going to keep doing what I’ve been doing and forgetting about today. I want to start over and do my best stuff again.”
Leth-Nissen turned professional after securing a place on the 2023 Ladies European Tour in December 2022 at the age of 18. As an amateur she rose as high as number 6 in the rankings.
“Off season, I had a lot of time to just relax, do some swing work. It’s been good for me to have almost three months at home and focus on my game.”
Leth-Nissen’s father Christian is on the bag for her this week and the two are a practiced partnership.
“We have really worked on our partnership. I don’t really feel like he’s my dad out there. He’s my professional caddy.
“We’ve worked a lot on communication and what he can do to help me be the best and I think we really succeeded with that today.
“The goal this year is to get back onto the LET.”
Leth-Nissen’s older sister Cecilie also plays on Tour and finished just inside the top 10 on one-under-par.
“We always want to do better than the other one. There always a little competition going on out there.
“I’m happy being the leader or having a chase. It’s good to be comfortable in both positions.”
Home favourite Vanessa Bouvet stuck to her game plan to finish the first day in second place on 67(-5).
It was a steady start for the Frenchwoman before two birdies rolled in on holes four and six.
At the turn, Bouvet fired up the flatstick to roll in three more birdies on holes 10, 12 and 15 to keep her scorecard unblemished.
Bouvet said, “I felt like I was striking the ball well, I hit a lot of greens and missed a few putts which was a bit frustrating but overall I’m happy.
“It was really encouraging to have the small crowd following me. My coach was out there, my mum and my caddy’s parents so it was great fun.
“I think the course played great today; the greens were rolling true to speed.”
Bouvet returns to LETAS this week to gain some confidence from playing at home.
“Playing at home does come with pressure, this time it was good pressure instead of negative pressure. I was able to control it.”
The Frenchwoman recently made the transition from amateur to professional after earning her card at 2024 Q School.
“Tomorrow I’m not changing anything; I’m sticking with my game plan and not forcing anything. I want to just take it one shot at a time and hopefully go lower.”
Bouvet finished in the top 10 at last year’s event and is seeking to place higher this week.
“I do enjoy the chase and seeing my name on the leaderboards around the course. I’m excited.”
French amateurs Alice Kong and Sara Brentcheneff, Swiss amateur Natalie Armbruester and Finland’s Elina Saska all sit tied third on three-under-par.
Three players are tied for seventh; France’s Marine Griffaut, Czechia’s Patricie Mackova and Spain’s Paz Marfa Sans.
The second round of the Terre Blanche Ladies Open gets underway tomorrow morning at 8:40am local time.
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