The Spirit – Day One disappointing for SA

Erica Lefson reports: “After a great practice round with good ball striking it was not as easy on Day One.

“Kim parred the first hole and Yvette birdied the second – so at this stage SA were quite positive on two under par. Then the struggle started on the greens with three putts resulting in drops at the fourth and sixth holes with confidence waning.

“The girls turned one over and dropped again on the 11th – REALLY difficult green with no chance of a two putt unless you hit to within six foot of the pin. (This hole also bit the boys).

“Then Kim came to life with birdies on 12, 13, 15 and missed a four foot putt after a great shot on the par three 16th for another birdie opportunity. So the girls also ended 1 under for the day, the same as the boys.

“Kim felt she was striking the ball well but allowed the greens to get to her on the first nine.

“The girls played with the English team who dove-tailed so well – when one player was in trouble the other birdied. These girls were seven under on their own.”

“The Boys had a good start with a birdie from Leon on the first hole, followed by a drop on the par five second where both hit their balls into the trees.

“Dylan got his first birdie at the par five fifth and it was pars to the end of the nine for a one under 35.

“On the back nine, the fireworks just would not happen. On the par five 12th Dylan hit his ball on the green for two, Leon was in the bunker for two – hit a shot to about 15 ft and holed the out for a birdie. Dylan – about 20ft from the hole missed his eagle- so both had birdies.

“This again happened on the par four 16th. Dylan took the short cut on the left hand dogleg – got a great bounce and landed on the green. Leon, from about 50m almost holed his chip – and got the birdie giving Dylan a eagle putt – which just missed. So again not great dove tailing – six birdies but only four counting for the score and three drop shots to finish – 1.”

The SA Team is on -2 in the team event, while Chinese Taipei leads on -14, followed by Germany, Denmark and the USA on -10.

Kim scored three birdies, Yvette had one but Hsuan-Yu Yao of China-Taipei and Chihiro Ikeda of the Philippines lead the Ladies Individual field with five birdies. The men’s leaderboard has eight players on eight birdies, with the two South Africans each holing three.

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