Sophie Giquel-Bettan performs well in first round at Lacoste Ladies Open De France 2012
French Sophie Giquel-Bettan saw a nail-biting encounter in the first round of Lacoste Ladies Open De France 2012, but she held her nerve as she shot a 66 to grab the second position along
with her fellow French Virginie Lagoutte-Clement, Spanish Azahara Munoz and Lydia Hall.
The Ladies European Tour (LET) event is being played at Chantaco Golf Club, Aquitaine, France, but a stronger-than-usual line-up has put it in the spotlight, with French contenders eager to
show their fans that they can perform well on their home soil.
Giquel started the round on Thursday with plenty of confidence as she was firm to impress the French spectators. She parred the first hole and launched her first birdie on the par-4 second
hole.
The French golfer had to face seemingly unstoppable LET stars but she did not let her nerve overcome her and just carried on, tenaciously boosting her score on the leaderboard.
Some of the big names in the roster include Azahara Munoz, Stacey Keating, Lydia Hall, Diana Luna, Pernilla Lindberg. Laura Diaz, Hannah Jun, Trish Johnson, Maria Hjorth and Rebecca Artis.
Giquel sent the crowd clapping once again when she reeled off two straight birdies on the 7th and 8th hole. On the back nine, her game looked a bit rickety because she
made mistakes on some of the holes.
The French star was under pressure after she misjudged the ball on the difficult par-3 12th and carded a double bogey. However, she was quick to dilute the pressure factor on the
14th and 15th as she sank birdies to put her back on track.
Giquel said while speaking to the media at the end of the round that she got off to a very strong start as she wanted to score well in the early stage of the tournament. She said consecutive
birdies on the front nine and back nine proved beneficial for her as it brought her back into contention.
“I was more aggressive than usual. I used to aim for the middle of the greens and think that two putts is good. Now it’s like, go for the pin, even if you miss it’s not a big deal because
you’ve got good chipping and putting,” she said.
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