Julia Engstrom of Sweden took a one-shot lead over English pro Liz Young as the Magical Kenya Ladies Open teed-off at the par-72 Vipingo Ridge course.
Engstrom, who started off her campaign in the tenth tee, attributed her decent round of 5 under par 67 to precise hitting and good putting.
“The plan was to stick on the fairways and putt well. It’s still too early to predict anything but again the idea is to stick with my plan- to go an extra mile make more birdies,” she said.
Two birdies in the front nine and four in the back nine was all the Swede pro needed to get her campaign to a flying start. The leader dropped only one shot on the par-4 seventh.
Young opened up her challenge with a superb round of 68 to emerge Clubhouse leader. Teeing off from the first, alongside Emilie Alonso from France, she carded a first nine total of 35 courtesy of a couple of birdies at the par-3, fourth and the par-4 seventh, having holed the only bogey of the round at the par-3, eighth.
She had a better back nine, holing three birdies — at the par-5 11th, the par-5 15th and the par-3 17th — to card a back nine total of 33. Young, who has had 14 top-ten finishes in 153 tournaments, came to the tournament on the back of a 16th-place finish at the Women’s Spanish Open.
Speaking at the end of her round, she said she was delighted with her performance adding that she is looking forward to playing steady rounds in the remaining days.
“I played really solid. I’ve just played in Spain and I felt I played well there, but just made a few stupid mistakes. It was a top 20 finish, so I was happy. I’ve brought my game to Kenya and a few putts went in this morning,” said Young.
Meanwhile, Kenyans performed dismally on the opening day. Their high scores technically puts them out of the cut which will be determined today.
Former Kenyan champion Naomi Wafula was the top-placed local player with a score of 6 over par 78 which saw her tie for 76th with 11 players.
Kenya’s sole pro Bhavi Shah finished T87 after carding 7 over par 79.
Another Kenyan amateur, Mary Nyanchama, finished day one in 103rd position with a round of 18 over.
Amateur Maryann Njoki was the tail end Charlie in 104th position with a score of 21 over. Kenyan amateur Agnes Nyakio came 102 with 15 over.
Tiger Woods' niece Chayenne Woods sits fifth with a score of 2 under par 70.
Round two starts this morning.
Scores for Round 1 only
*Did not start from 1st Hole.
Pos Player Name Par Thru
1 Julia Engstrom (SWE) -5
2 Liz Young (ENG) -4
3 Esther Henseleit (GER) -3
3 Astrid Vayson De Pradenne (FRA) -3 F *
5 Cheyenne Woods (USA) -2
6 Amy Walsh (AUS) -1
6 Johanna Gustavsson (SWE) -1
6 Isabella Deilert (SWE) -1 F
6 Sarina Schmidt (GER) (a) -1
6 Sarah Nilsson (SWE) -1
6 Kelsey Macdonald (SCO) -1
6 Ursula Wikstrom (FIN) -1
13 Emma Nilsson (SWE) Par
13 Tvesa Malik (IND) Par
13 Katja Pogacar (SLO) Par
13 Luiza Altmann (BRA) Par
13 Manon De Roey (BEL) Par
13 Michele Thomson (SCO)
13 Justine Dreher (FRA) Par
20 Gemma Clews (ENG) +1
