Abu Dhabi: South African Lee-Anne Pace, making her debut at the Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open, shot a 6-under par to take one-shot lead on Day One at the picturesque Saadiyat Beach Golf Course on Wednesday.
The 36-year-old finished with a birdie on the last hole after she had bogeyed on the 16th. In the front nine, Pace had three birdies on the trot on the fourth, fifth and sixth before finishing with a birdie on the ninth hole.
“I played nice, hit 14 greens and made quite a few putts also for par saves, so the putt is working,” said a visibly pleased Pace adding that her back-to-back birdies in the front nine set the tone.
“I was successful with long putts too, including one from off the green, which I was lucky with, being honest. The Par 5s are reachable here, along with a couple of short Par 4s too, so it’s important to take advantage and birdie these holes. I always play one shot at a time especially on a course I don’t know and my caddie helped me a lot as he had been here before,” added Pace, who also shared the lead at one stage with England’s Florentyna Parker before the latter slipped into joint second with 5-under after a bogie on the last hole.
Parker, who managed three birdies in a row on the back nine before faltering towards the end, is tied with Jenny Haglund of Switzerland, Marianne Skarpnord of Norway, Amy Boulden of Wales, India’s Aditi Ashok and Germany’s Isi Gabsa.
India’s teen sensation Ashok, speaking about her showing, said: “I missed quite a few birdies towards the beginning and at the end of the round. I think bogey free is always good. I was hitting greens in the beginning but I didn’t hold many putts. Then putt started going in but it was a good first round and good position so I’m happy.”
Skarpnord, among the early ones to share the clubhouse lead, was also delighted with her performance for the day.
“Yes, I played good today. Just a bit tired this morning. Had a wake-up call at about 4.30 but I played solid and Mark (caddie) did a great job today. We got a bit lucky on 18, so it was a good start,” said Skarpnord, who managed an eagle on the 18th along with her three birdies on the second, fourth and 15th hole.
“That was an eight iron that I used for that eagle. Couple of years ago, I had managed one. Absolutely, especially this morning as there was no wind and conditions were perfect.”
Haglund was also happy to finish the day on a high saying that she ‘cut it well’ today. “It was my putting that worked really well. I made a lot of putts and a lot of birdies. I pit some foot quick shots real close as well,” said Haglung adding that her season had been a mixed bag.
“I started off real good in Spain and Morocco and I kind of didn’t play well towards the middle of the year. But started playing well now again in the end of the year. So, so far so good.”
Defending Champion Beth Allen, who was in the same group as Pace, shot one over while last year’s runner up Brit Georgia Hall was sitting just three shots off the leader racking up a total of seven birdies.
“I played really well today, I hit loads of greens, my long game was really good. I just couldn’t hole anything on the front nine. I could have easily hit seven-under today. The greens were a little hard to read on the front nine, because you’ve got to read the grain too but it’s a solid start for day one,” said the 21-year-old Hall.
