Norway’s Karoline Lund produced her lowest round as a professional in the first round of the Platinum Ladies Open with a seven-under-par 64 on the par-71 Blair Atholl Golf and Equestrian Estate course on Wednesday.
She earned herself a one-shot lead over Nikki Hofstede from The Netherlands and England’s Hayley Davis.
The 26-year-old Lund, who said her practice round filled her with confidence for the challenge of this week, made five birdies and an eagle without dropping a single shot during the first round.
The field has been given an added incentive this week as the prize money has been increased by a further R200 000 to R1.2 million.
“I don’t want to say it’s easy, but today it felt easy. I hit a lot of fairways and greens and made a few putts as well, so it’s one of those good days. I went a little bit right of the green on the 13th hole and chipped in for eagle which was nice. The course is in great condition even though there has been a lot of rain. It just felt easy.”
Lund started playing golf with her father at the age of 11 at the golf course next to their vacation home in Sweden during family holidays. But she has been blown away by the quality of golf courses in South Africa.
“The courses in South Africa are a lot better for sure as we don’t really have the weather in Norway. We only have about six or seven months to play, so you can’t really compare the courses. South Africa is just something else.”
Lund said her strategy for the second round is “to just to play as aggressive as I did today and to stay in the process, taking one shot at a time and just have fun”.
South Africa’s Casandra Alexander, winner of this year’s Jabra Ladies Classic in February, and veteran golfer Tandi McCallum are two shots off the lead on five under par.