June 17, 2016: Germany’s Isi Gabsa stormed around Golf Park Pilsen with an opening round of five-under-par 66 to grab the early lead at the Tipsport Golf Masters in the Czech Republic. India’s teenage golfer Aditi Ashok shot an even 71 to end the first round inside the top 30.
The 21-year-old from Stuttgart carded six birdies and one bogey in heavy rain and wind to earn a two stroke clubhouse lead over Australian Stacey Keating and Nanna Koerstz Madsen from Denmark.
Spain’s Nuria Iturrios, who won the recent Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco, is part of a large group on two-under while England’s defending champion Hannah Burke had a 72 and local LET star Klára Spilková (below) opened with a 74.
Gabsa said: “It’s awesome to have such a good round in tough weather. My putting was great and I holed a lot of putts. My driver and irons were pretty good, so to shoot five-under you have to have a good game overall.”
This is Gabsa’s fourth start on the LET in 2016 after she graduated from the LET Access Series following two wins in Scandinavia in 2015 on the LET Access Series.
As well as a season best tie for 22nd in the RACV Ladies Masters and a share of 28th position in Morocco, she has also been playing on the Symetra Tour in the USA where she finished third in the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic in April.
“My season has been good. I played well in Morocco, had a good start in Australia and then I had some good results in the States,” she said.
Keating, who has mixed six LET events with two Symetra Tour events this year, combined an eagle at the 14th with three birdies and two bogeys.
The double LET champion, who won in Spain and France in 2012, said: “I’m obviously very happy because there were tough conditions out there. At the same time, because it’s been raining, it’s softer and more score-able. An eagle on the card helped, but it’s a reachable par five and there’s a par four that I couldn’t reach in two, so I’ll pretend that was a par five and the other was a par four. It helps that I holed a bomb. I think I hit my driver three times today, so it’s not a long course but you’ve got to get it in position and then do well with your shorter clubs.”
Madsen, (above), who also had an eagle on 14 along with three birdies and a bogey, said: “I’m very pleased with my round. I felt I played really good.”
Madsen leads fellow Dane Emily Kristine Pedersen, who had a 72, by one place on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings and the pair are battling for a spot in the Olympic Games in Rio this week.
At the beginning of the year, Madsen was 41 places behind Pedersen but the advantage has swung several times. Madsen, who is looking for her first win on tour, lost out on the 2015 Rookie of the Year Award to Pedersen, who recorded her maiden victory in India last year.
Spanish rookie Iturrios, who is targeting back-to-back wins on the LET, clearly relished playing in the wet conditions as she said: “The weather was like Morocco, so I had a good feeling, because it was like the last round.”
The main area of rain was moving out of the region by Friday afternoon with an improved forecast for the weekend.
Ladies European Tour
