Strauss & Samu set pace at Aussie Amateur Open
South Africa’s Bertine Strauss and reigning Sanlam SA Women’s Amateur champion Ivanna Samu lead the South African challenge after the first round of the Australian Amateur Open at the Australian Golf Club in Sydney on Tuesday.
The pair opened with three-over-par 77s at The Lakes Golf Course to finish five off the pace from Eun Jeong Seong from South Korea and Australian Doey Choi.
Strauss did especially well to overcome a double-bogey, bogey start to join Samu in a tie for 22nd.
The North West golfer birdied the third and reeled in three more birdies to offset bogeys at the fifth and 10th holes for her 77.
Samu completed the front nine in one-over, having dropped just one shot at the par-four fifth.
The 16-year-old Ruimsig golfer bogeyed the 10th, 11th and 13th but rallied with a birdie at the par-three 15th to finish the back nine in 40 strokes.
Texas State University student Lora Assad started her campaign with a six-over-par 80 after loops of 39 and 41, while Africa Youth Games bronze medallist Eleonora Galletti was bitterly disappointed with her opening 89.
“Ivanna was very steady and Bertine did really well to rally after a rocky start,” said Womens Golf South Africa president Karen Olivant.
“Ellie was very disappointed with her performance, but she is excited to play the Australian Golf Course on Wednesday.
“Having had a look at the scores from both the Lakes and the Australian courses it is hard to judge which played the toughest, however, all four players are looking forward to the Australian, which they enjoyed far more than the Lakes course during the practice rounds.”
Following the second round, the field will be cut to 32 qualifiers for the match play championship, which will be contested at the Australian Golf Course.
Australian Amateur Open – http://leaderboard.miclub.com.au/leaderboards/golfaus/422615
Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of Womens Golf South Africa.