Kristie Smith leads the first round of the Lalla Meryem Golf Cup by two strokes – Golf update
Australian Kristie Smith grabbed an early lead at the Mohammedia Lalla Meryem Golf Cup taking place at scenic par-72 Golf du Soleil in Agadir, Morocco. The 22-year-old golfer carded five under par 67 in the first round to lead the 325,000 Euro tournament
by two strokes.
Smith continued with her fine run after her maiden Ladies European Tour (LET) victory the last month as she posted six birdies with only one bogey scored at the 10th hole. “I don’t think anyone was expecting the wind to be up like it was this
morning and it’s hot as well. It’s definitely difficult out there and five under was a pretty good round.” Smith said, “I got off to a pretty rough start, bogeyed the first, but hung in there and made quite a few good putts. I feel confident in my swing and
everything that’s going well with my golf game but mentally I feel a bit under pressure. Obviously winning the last event and just things going on back home, I really want to play well this week.”
Klara Spilkova of Czech Republic shared the second spot on the leader board with Caroline Masson of Germany and Anne-Lise Caudal of France at three under par 69. The 16-year-old rookie golfer Spilkova is the youngest player of LET. Also, she is playing in
the very first tournament of her career. “I feel really good because it was really hard today; the wind was strong and the sun was strong so I feel good but I am very, very tired because it was hard,” said Spilkova, who is still at school in Prague. “This
is my first tournament: I played last year in Slovakia as an amateur so this is my first big tournament. I hit really good greens in regulation – 14 - and the up and downs were good as well. I hit four fairways because these are really narrow so the shots
from the tee are really hard.” The critics are forecasting a positive future keeping in view the way she played on the very first day of her professional career.
The fifth spot was shared by Zuzana Kamasova of Slovakia, Irish Martina Gillen, Carin Koch of Sweden and the Australian Sarah Kemp. The rest of the golfers were unable to keep their scores under par. 22-year-old Maha Haddioui who is the only Morrocan in
the playing field was able to post two over par 74. She said that her below par performance was due to the immense pressure on her.
The first day of the tournament posed a real test for all the players taking part in the tournament as the temperature topped 36 degrees Celsius. The scorching heat is likely to continue on the following days of the Lalla Meryem Cup.
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