The Ladies European Tour’s top stars quickly found their scoring touch in the first round of the Andalucía Costa del Sol Spanish Ladies Open in Marbella. Three players shared the lead after the opening day at Royal Guadalmina Golf Club, with England’s Georgia Hall, Spaniard Natalia Escuriola and Diana Luna from Italy all carding seven-under 65s.
Georgia Hall made a slow start, with two birdies and two bogeys on an even-par front nine, then sparked up with five birdies and an eagle. “I don’t even know what I was doing on the front nine, to be honest,” said the 21-year-old from Wimborne, who tied for 10th place in last week’s Evian Championship and is looking for her first win on the tour. “My head was not there and my golf was not there at all. I did well to make the turn in level par, because I had some horrendous shots in there. I pulled a couple on the first two or three holes about 15 yards left, which kind of got my head a bit frazzled. On the back nine I thought, right, I’m going to get five birdies here to get to five-under. Then I managed to have a good eagle on the last.
“On the par-five 18th, I hit driver and it makes it a bit easier when you only have 155 yards to the pin. I hit six-iron to four or five feet and managed to hole it, so that definitely put me in a much better position.”
A steady Escuriola Martinez carded eight birdies and had just one dropped shot during her round. The 23-year-old from Castellón won the Santander Tour’s Spanish Championship at the same Guadalmina course 14 months ago. “Today I felt really good and played easy shots, so I think that was the key. I felt relaxed today and I’m playing in Spain. I love this course because I won a tournament here last year.”
Five-time tour winner Luna had a flawless round with seven birdies. “I’m very pleased,” she said afterwards. “I had some very good up and downs towards the end of the round and I was getting a little bit tired, so my long game was going a bit downhill.”
Suzann Pettersen, Carlota Ciganda and 2013 tournament Spanish Open champion Lee-Anne Pace were one back in joint fourth place after 66s.
“I feel pretty good and it’s nice to be back,” said Pettersen, who has recovered from the back injury that led to her withdrawing from The Solheim Cup last month. “Last week was the first after a five-week break, so not the easiest of comebacks on a tough course. I played pain-free last week and I feel great, so no hesitations and I can kind of do whatever I want, so I’m happy to be back.
“I’ll take six-under any day but I mean, it’s perfect out here. I had a good group, played fast and you have to try and take advantage of some of the par-fives out here. If you hit it good, you’ll have some good looks and I rolled the ball pretty well.”
Also at six-under, Ciganda said, “My putting was good today and I made eight birdies, with four birdies on the par-fives. I like the course and it’s nice to play back in Europe. I have my family and friends here supporting and it’s always nice to play in front of them.
“I was trying to hit fairways and greens and make a few putts. The par-fives are reachable, so if you have a good day with the putter you can make a lot of birdies. There are a few narrow holes where you have to be on the fairway, but today was good. The greens were rolling really well.”
Defending champion Azahara Muñoz, an honorary member of the host club, opened with a three-under 69 (five birdies and two bogeys).
