Dubai-based Chiara Noja shot an opening round of four under par 68 to be placed tied sixth in the 54-hole $1 million Ladies European Tour’s ARAMCO Team Series at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Starting on hole 10, 16-year-old Chiara, went to the turn in 34, two under par, with birdies on holes 10, 13 and 18 and a dropped shot on hole 17.
Her back nine, holes one to nine, consisted of birdies on holes 1, 2, and 4 with a bogey on hole 3 with the balance of holes in par.
108 players are in the field played over the 6,327-yard, par 72 course, designed by European Golf Design.
Team event
In the 36-hole Team event, Team Noja lies in tied 13th on 10 under par, 12 shots behind Team Kreuzer.
Chiara, after completing her round, told Gulf News: “I had my windy round with the late tee time today. I will try and take advantage of my 6.40am early tee time tomorrow, which will, hopefully, be calm and still and can take advantage of the conditions. I had a lovely day today with some solid golf, hit some good shots and I am looking forward to tomorrow.”
At the top of the leaderboard is a five-way tie of Ursula Wikstrom (Fin), Nicole Garcia (RSA), Virginia Elena Carta (It), Ana Palaez Trivino (Fr) and Johanna Gustavsson (Swe) with a few players still to complete their first rounds.
