Victorian State Captain Jo Charlton is in a strong position after the opening day of the women’s British Open Amateur championship at Portstewart Golf Club in Northern Ireland.
The 26 year old from Metropolitan Golf Club began the strokeplay section of the event with a tidy three-under par 70 in friendly conditions. Charlton carded 5 birdies to finish tied in 7th place and will tee off at 9.21pm AEST tonight in the 2nd round of strokeplay.
She is just four shots behind the leader (Elin Osborn) but in an excellent position to progress to the matchplay stage.
Fellow Victorians Julienne Soo and Zara Woodbridge finished further back in the field. Julienne Soo recorded a score of 77 after 4 birdies while Zara Woodbridge finished on 80 including a birdie on the par 5 7th.
It was Sweden’s Elin Esborn, an 18-year-old from Gothenburg, that knocked World No 1 Leona Maguire off the pole position late in the day.
She did it with a superb round of seven-under-par 66 (32-34), her lowest-ever score, and in only her second tournament over a links course.
“I played in the Duke of York Young Champions tournament at Royal Aberdeen last year. That was a links course but I had never played links before and did not have much practice,” said Elin.
“So I didn’t play well. Shot up in the 80s. But that was my fault not the links course, I really like links golf and with more preparation this time, I have been able to score better.”
Esborn went bogey-free and had an eagle at the 447-yard 14th hole where she bombed a 20-foot putt.
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By: LGU Media