Lohbauer upstages favourites at Glendower

Boland amateur Bianca Lohbauer stole the show on the tournament favourites in the first round of the prestigious Sanlam SA Amateur Stroke Play Championship on Sunday.

The 19-year-old Boland amateur produced a solid one-over-par 73 as the field struggled to come to terms with the undulating greens and the blustery conditions at Glendower Golf Club and the lead changed hands at least half-a-dozen times.

Lohbauer leads by three strokes from defending champion Carrie Park and finished four shots clear of the country’s number one ranked Ivanna Samu.

Western Province’s Cara Gorlei and Zethu Myeki from Border lag a further stroke behind the Gauteng pair.

Lohbauer enjoyed her first trip around the challenging 5,702-meter layout.

“My only complaint would be the greens,” she said. “You can never believe how fast the greens are when you are watching the Masters or the US Open, but we definitely got a dose of that today.

“The course is very long and the greens are fast and hard. It’s tough to score here. I would rather take a 50 meter shot in that have a short chip or a bump and run.”

Lohbauer hit a three-wood into the second and holed her first birdie putt, but blew the advantage with a double bogey at the par-four fifth.

“I had about 200 meter in and wanted to lay up with a three-wood, but I caught a flyer over the green and had an impossible chip,” Lohbauer said. “I was really pleased when I hit a pitching wedge to a meter and holed the putt for birdie to get it back to level par.”

She knocked a pitching wedge to four feet at the par-five 13th and boxed the putt for a third birdie, but was disappointed to finish with a double bogey.

“The 18th is a tough hole, because the bunkers are in play and if you go too far right, the trees get in the way,” Lohbauer said.

“I hit a great drive, but I duffed a six-iron and finished short of the green. I hit a great chip to just behind the flag, but I ran my first putt past the hole and missed the return putt. It was a let-down, because I played really solidly, even though the birdies were not dropping.

Park struggled with the putter and missed a handful of birdie putts, but managed to mix 13 pars with a lone birdie, three bogeys and a double drop.

“I just couldn’t hole a birdie putt,” the 2014 champion said. “I had eight good chances, but only one went down the hole. I’m off early tomorrow, so hopefully the greens will have less spike marks and I can take advantage of the fresh greens.”

Reigning Sanlam SA Amateur champion Samu called it a day of four seasons as the gusting wind, intermittent rain and blistering sunshine took turns to annoy and spoil the players.

The 16-year-old’s card featured two triple bogeys, a double bogey, three dropped shots and six birdies, including a string of three gains from 13 to 16. The 77 was worlds away from the round of 70 and 72 she fired to finish second in the Sunshine Tour’s Chase to the Investec Cup for Ladies at Glendower in February.

“That little run was pretty nice, but my day was just one long bad bounce,” Samu said.

“I had a lot of unlucky bounces, even though I was striking the ball well and finding fairways. It was frustrating, but tomorrow is another day and there is still a lot of golf to be played.”

Myeki, KwaZulu-Natal’s Brittney-Fay Berger, Cassidy Williams from Boland and Eleonora Galletti from Gauteng were all among the early frontrunners.

Border Ladies champion Myeki started at the 10th and loved the course until she hit the front nine.

“Gosh, but that first nine holes are tough,” the Ernie Els and Fancourt Foundation player said.

“We are used to hitting wedges in, but here its five-irons and more. It’s really tough, but I think it’s a really good challenge for us. You don’t improve under easy conditions; you need to challenge yourself and I’m really pleased that I still finished in the top five.”

FIRST ROUND SCORES – TOP 20
73 Bianca Lohbauer
76 Carrie Park
77 Ivanna Samu
78 Cara Gorlei; Zethu Myeki
79 Caro Els; Bianca Theron; Lauren Bekker; Eleonora Galletti
80 Leanke Vlok
81 Brittney-Fay Berger; Vicki Traut; Michelle Swanepoel; Vanessa Smith
82 Sarah Blythe-Wood; Sarah Bouch; Marike Reyneke; Chiara Contomathios; Pauline Tainton SUI; Marne Clack

Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of Womens Golf South Africa.

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