France’s Perrine Delacour and Germany’s Aline Krauter came through the first round of the Investec South African Women’s Open tied for the lead on a magnificent day in the winelands that brought the best out of this international field on Thursday.
Delacour and Krauter both opened with rounds of seven-under-par 65 at Erinvale Country & Golf Estate and lead by a single stroke over Namibia’s Bonita Bredenhann, France’s Lucie Malchirand and the Czech Republic’s Sara Kouskova.
South African amateur Gia Raad also impressed with her first round of five-under-par 67.
“I’m pretty happy about that,” said Delacour, who admitted that Erinvale’s incredible views were a welcome distraction during her round.
“It’s pretty. I keep looking at the view. If you had a bad shot, you just look at the view and that helps a lot.”
Delacour teed off the 10th and did most of her scoring on her second nine where she had two birdies and an eagle in her first four holes after the turn.
And she didn’t drop a shot on the first day of this Sunshine Ladies Tour and Ladies European Tour co-sanctioned event.
“I’m trying to be a bit more relaxed about my game and accept that I’ll miss with some shots. I’m trying to not be a perfectionist all the time. I just have to keep trusting the process and see where we go. There is a lot of golf left to play,” she said.
Alongside her at the top of the leaderboard, Krauter had an equally solid day that featured strong finishes to both her nines.
Also teeing off the 10th, she went to the turn with three birdies in four holes, and then ended her round with two birdies in her final three holes.
“It was amazing. It wasn’t as windy as I’ve heard it can get here, so I took advantage of that. I love the course and I’m excited for the rest of the week,” she said.
But it’s a tight leaderboard behind them.
Bredenhann was delighted to be among the early contenders at the end of a day where she had a hole-in-one on the par-three 14th, earning her a bottle of champagne for her efforts.
“My caddie and I were discussing clubs and I went for a six iron. It was 158 metres and I hit it perfect. When it pitched it rolled down to the hole and I shouted for it to go in, which it did. It was an amazing feeling. It’s my second hole-in-one on the Sunshine Ladies Tour this season,” she said.
It was a low-scoring start to this tournament, with 15 golfers within three shots of the lead by the end of the day.