(12 December 2009 – Branxton, NSW)
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Victorian Jody Fleming is the surprise leader after the first round one of the Xstrata Coal Branxton Pro-Am. She fired an eagle, five birdies and a bogey for a career-best round of 6-under par 66. Queensland’s Bree Arthur and local favourite Sarah Kemp sit two shots behind after both players fired 4-under par rounds of 68 on the short but challenging Branxton Golf Club layout. West Australian Bree Turnbull sits one shot further back on 69 with Tamara Hyett, Sarah Nicholson and Rachel Bailey all two shots further back on 1-under par 71.
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Fleming, a second year professional who plays out of Portsea and Yarra Yarra, played a steady front nine of 2-under par with birdies at the 3rd and 6th holes. She began the back nine in bright fashion with a birdie at the short par-4 10th and added further birdie s at the 13th and 14th holes to move to 5-under. She hooked her tee shot on the next hole to end up with her first bogey of the day.
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Fleming added ‘the cream’ to an already impressive round when she hit an 8-iron to 3-feet on the short par-5 17th to move to the 6-under mark. Asked about the turnaround, she attributed working with her new coach, Allan Topham from Chatswood and said, “the work I’ve done at Horizons the last couple of days obviously paid off. I had a great group of guys to play with which always makes it easier.”
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Kemp, who won the last event at Ryde-Parramatta, fired seven birdies and three bogeys in a round that “could have been anything.” After her round began with a bogey at the treacherous 1st hole, Kemp went on to birdie six of her next 8 holes, (including four in a row from the 3rd) to post an outward nine of 5-under par 31. After making the turn, she struck difficulty at the 11th. She had just reapplied sunscreen and the club slipped in her hand, and she found the water on the left. After re-loading, she hit a class shot to six feet and sunk the putt for bogey. Another bogey at the par-3 13th saw her slip back to 3-under and the chance of her round unravelling. She steadied with three pars before a birdie at the 17th, a par to finish and a round of 68.
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Arthur, who recently turned professional after a stellar amateur career, found her feet in the pro ranks with her first round under par. She recorded 6 birdies, 3 on each nine and 2 bogeys. She took advantage of the par 5’s, recording birdies at the 3rd, 14th, 15th and 17th holes. One of her other birdies almost netted a hole-in-one with a superb shot into the 9th that landed 2 feet past the hole and spun back to half a foot.
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The final round commences at 6.14am tomorrow with the leaders due to tee off at 12.52pm.
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