Seddiner See, Germany, July 1: Ridhima Dilawari’s perseverance finally paid off as she returned a fine card of 4-under 68 and was in Top-10 at the end of the first round of the Amundi German Masters at Golf & Country Club Seddiner See. Ridhima, who turns 24 later this month, had a slow start with an even par back nine after starting on the tenth.
Ridhima had four birdies against no bogeys to be placed T-9 with 68, which was five shots behind the runaway leader Sweden’s Jessica Karlsson, who fired an opening round of 63.
The scores were modest for some of the other Indian girls as Amandeep Drall (71) was T-45th and amateur Avani Prashanth, playing her first LET event outside India, carded an eventful even par 72 as did Diksha Dagar and they were T-60. Things did not pan out too well for Vani Kapoor (74) at T-87th and Tvesa Malik continued to struggle as she shot 76 and was T-110. They will all need solid second rounds to make the cut, which is likely to fall around par or 1-over.
Ridhima, who has just come off a win on her domestic Hero Women’s Pro Tour, was even par after 10 holes. She then birdied second, fourth, sixth and seventh for a fine card.
This season Ridhima has made just two cuts in five previous starts on LET and those were in April in Australia, where she T-25 at Australian Women’s Classic and T-59 at Women’s NSW Open.
Amandeep also started on the tenth and suffered a double bogey on 11th and she was 2-over till the 12th. She then birdied three in a row from fifth to seventh and finished at a respectable 1-under.
Amateur Avani Prashanth opened with an action-packed 72 with seven birdies, five bogeys and a double bogey, while Diksha, one of the only two Indian women to have won on the LET, carded 72 with three birdies and three bogeys.
Jessica, 29, who began her round from the 10th tee, carded a bogey-free day with six birdies in her first nine holes and three birdies in her final five holes.
Five players are in a share of second place three shots back on six-under-par including German duo Leonie Harm and Esther Henseleit. England’s Gabriella Cowley also signed for a round of 66 (-6), after rolling in three birdies apiece on the front and back nine.
