ADELAIDE: Diksha Dagar and Vani Kapoor were off to good starts with an even par 72 each that placed them Tied-24th after the first round of the Women’s Australian Open here on Thursday.
It was a rather disappointing day for Hitaashee Bakshi (77) and Avani Prashanth (77), who were Tied-98, and needed a very low second round to make the 36-hole cut, while Pranavi Urs (78) was even further down.
Darcey Harry and Alexandra Forsterling matched one another’s low scoring agenda at the Women’s Australian Open carding rounds of 66 (-6) and 67 (-5) respectively to sit first and second on the leaderboard.
Diksha, starting from the tenth tee, had a rocky first nine with three birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey on the 17th, which was her eighth hole.
On the second nine, she bogeyed the fourth and picked birdies on the sixth and the ninth, which was her closing hole.
Vani, who got a sponsor’s invite, began nicely with birdies on the second and the fifth.
A bogey on the ninth saw her turn in 1-under. She birdied the tenth but had a disappointing finish. She bogeyed the 13th, 15th and the 17th and had one birdie on the 16th.
Playing in the same group at Kooyonga Golf Club, co-leaders Darcey Harry and Alexandra Forsterling made the most of calmer morning conditions both finishing with excellent eagle putts on their final hole, the par-5 9th, to set the standard for the day.
Welshwoman Harry, a winner on the Ladies European Tour (LET) at last year’s Hulencourt Women’s Open, went one lower than her counterpart carding birdies at the 10th, 14th, 18th, 1st and 5th to go along with her grandstand finish. The 22-year-old’s only dropped shot of the day came at the 11th.
Forsterling meanwhile, a four-time winner on the LET, made two eagles on Thursday. Her first came at the par-4 13th when she holed out with her second shot from 114 yards.
One back from Forsterling in solo third on four-under par is USA’s Anna Morgan.
The rookie carded the best round of the afternoon in windy conditions finishing with a birdie at the par-5 9th.
In a tie for fourth on three-under par sit six players: Austria’s Emma Spitz, Australia’s Kelsey Bennett, Italy’s Alessandra Fanali, England’s Annabell Fuller plus French duo Agathe Laisne and Celine Herbin.