England’s Eleanor Givens, South Africa’s Cara Gorlei, and 23-year-old Lauren Walsh from Ireland picked an early lead during the first round of the four-day Magical Kenya Ladies Open.
The trio carded 4-under par 69 to end the day in a three-way share of the lead.
The fourth edition of the Magical Kenya Ladies Open kicked off at the par-73 PGA Baobab course, Vipingo Ridge in Kilifi, on Thursday.
Eleanor, who teed off from the first in the morning, opened her round with six birdies on the first nine with her only blot coming in at the par-4 fifth, for a total of 32.
She found the back nine slightly challenging but held steady for a total of 37 courtesy of a lone birdie at the par-5 11th and consecutive bogeys at the 15th and 16th.
“Six birdies in the first eight holes is kind of a dream way to start my season [although the course] is just really challenging. The layout is tough, and you know you can get out of position and if you do, you have to be clever with it and that happened to me a couple of times today,” said Eleanor.
On her part, Gorlei teed off in the afternoon as conditions got windier and hotter, but that didn’t seem to bother her as she went on to play a flawless round.
She carded 36 on the first nine courtesy of a birdie at the par-3 eighth; before carding 33 on the back nine courtesy of birdies at the 10th, 11th and 13th holes to end the round as joint leader.
Walsh matched Cara in a blemish-free round, carding 35 on the first nine courtesy of birdies fourth and the seventh, to combine with a total of 34 on the back nine courtesy of birdies at the 11th and 18th holes.
It was a challenging outing for the Kenyan five amateurs taking part in the event.
Vipingo-based Jacquelyne Walter emerged best of the lot, finishing the round in a tie for 40th place after carding a round of 2-over par 75 to leave her in contention for tomorrow’s cut, which will reduce the field to 60 and ties.
Walter’s campaign was affected by a double bogey she picked on hole six.
The rest of Kenyans struggled through the opening day of the Ladies European Tour.
Naomi Wafula, who is the most experienced among the five-member Kenyan outfit, started her campaign on a seven-over par 80 which was not quite good going into Friday’s round.
She is tying at position 96 with three other golfers after the first round.
Playing in her first Magical Kenya Ladies Open, Dubai-based Kenyan amateur Kellie Gachaga carded a score of 8-over par 81, one behind Wafula.
“This is my first time playing at the Magical Kenya Ladies Open and I feel very honoured and happy to be representing Kenya. I was a bit nervous going into this, but I am confident in the preparation that I had put in and I just went out there and enjoyed my time and I am happy with that,” she said after her round.
The youngest of the five Kenyan ladies in the tournament, Chanelle Wangari (17) shot a 9-over par 82.
It was a bad day in the office for Mercy Nyanchama, who posted 20 over par93 which makes it almost impossible for her to make the cut going into the weekend.