Australian Nikki Garrett set a blistering pace as she opened with a career-low round of eight under par 64 at the Tenerife Open de España Femenino at Golf Las Américas on Thursday.
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Garrett was out in the first group from the 10th tee and played flawless golf on a beautiful day with temperatures at 27C and little breeze.
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She birdied holes 11, 16 and 17 for a back nine total of three under before picking up five more birdies on the front nine, closing with three in a row from the seventh.
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“I just played really solid the whole day. I hit a lot of greens, hit a few close shots that I really capitalised on and sunk the putts. I chipped in out of the bunker on my eighth hole, which is 17, so just everything went well,” said the 28-year-old from Shelly Beach, New South Wales.
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Garrett has an excellent record in Spain having won the 2007 Tenerife Ladies Open at Golf Del Sur and then the Open de España Femenino at Sergio Garcia’s home course, Country Club Mediterráneo in Castellón, the following week.
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She tied for second behind Becky Brewerton in a non-official Ladies European Tour matchplay event at Golf Las Américas last June and clearly relishes playing in Spain.
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“I love Tenerife, I love Spain. I had both my wins in Tenerife, Spain, so it feels a lot like home. I’m always very relaxed when I play in this part of the world,” said Garrett.
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The 2006 Rookie of the Year explained how she recently started hitting her drives from the turf rather than from a tee in a similar style to Laura Davies.
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“I’ve been teeing it up a little bit like Laura the last two and a half weeks and I think for me, thats been a bit of a key because I’ve been playing it well from after the driver, so to get things in the fairway, a good score was bound to happen sooner or later.
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“I’ve always practised hitting driver off the deck as a kid, just for fun and just because you want to try and do something different. I think I just commit to it more.
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“I had a lesson last week at the British Open off Gerald (Adams), Laura’s caddie, how to do the grass properly, so I’ve got it down packed a little bit now. It’s a lot harder here because the grass sprays everywhere but it’s just a confidence thing and as long as it goes in the fairway I don’t really care.”
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Trish Johnson, the 2010 Tenerife Ladies Open champion at Buenavista Golf Club in the north of the island, was at five under after a 67 containing six birdies and one bogey.
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The Swindon-based 46-year-old said: “I think it was pretty good all the way around really, from start to finish. I started quite well, one under early on, birdied 16, 17 and one: I was playing the back nine first obviously and got to four under. I made one mistake really. I had a birdie putt to go to six under on the fifth, which I missed. I hit a poor tee shot on the par-three fifth hole, didn’t get up and down, and that was the only poor shot I hit.”
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Italian Veronica Zorzi, South African Lee-Anne Pace and Germany’s Miriam Nagl carded four under par 68s to lie in a share of third place.
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A group of 11 players share sixth position at three-under par including Australians Frances Bondad and Rebecca Artis, along with the 2010 Spanish Open champion England’s Laura Davies.
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Karen Lunn and Stacey Keating are at two-under-par and tied for 17th. Stephanie Na and Rachel Bailey carded rounds of 73 to share 59th position. Bree Arthur is tied for 81st after a 74, while Alison Whitaker has her work cut out to make the cut, she is currently tied for 100th position at four-over-par.
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