31 March 2022: Gusting wind, racy greens and jittery nerves combined to make the first day of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur a difficult test of golf. Avani Prashanth fought her way to a 76, leaving herself an outside chance of forcing her way inside the top 30 on Thursday. Only five women broke par in the opening round, with Benedetta Moresco and Anna Davis, the youngest in the field shooting their way into the lead with a 70 on their cards.
Avani made three birdies, two of them at the turn, with her back facing the wall. At the eighth, already four strokes due to the course, Avani made a clutch putt from 12 feet to secure her first birdie of the day.
After a steady start, Avani suffered her first setback at the par-5 third hole. Three straight bogeys from the fifth did not help her cause. She drove right on the 10th hole and failed to reach the green in regulation. A missed up and down effort meant that she conceded the fifth bogey on the day.
On the 12th, she found herself in the greenside bunker with the pin sitting on a downhill slope, enduring a two-putt bogey.
Avani made some amends with a brilliant 20 footer on the 16th hole to sign out on a positive note. She had three birdies and seven bogeys on her card. The 15-year-old from Bengaluru is lying T39 with the world No.1 Rose Zhang among others.
Megha Ganne began her day with a thrilling run of par saves, making lengthy putts with laser like precision. Bogeys at the sixth and eighth set her back, but she clawed a shot back with a brilliant birdie on the ninth hole.
She also made a bogey on the 14th hole, but made amends with a fine birdie on the par-5 18th hole. Megha is in T9, just three strokes from the leaders.
ANWA Release
The 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur began on Wednesday with 72 of the world’s top amateur golfers from 24 countries competing in Augusta, Ga. Italy’s Benedetta Moresco and 16-year-old Anna Davis opened with matching two-under-par 70s to lead the way after the first round at Champions Retreat Golf Club.
Moresco, No. 20 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), found herself in the mix of a tight leader board after early birdies from a close putt on No. 2 and a 15-foot putt on No. 3 and made the turn at two under par.
The University of Alabama sophomore was able to go bogey-free on her second nine and string together nine consecutive pars to share the lead in her second appearance at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
“It was good out there today. I had really good putts from all around the green,” Moresco said. “Being patient on the golf course. I think that was key….The wind came up on the back nine more than the front nine. It was a little bit tougher.”
Playing in the last group of the day, Davis made the turn at one under par after a birdie on No. 7 and recorded another at No. 14 to claim a share of the lead. She lost a stroke with her sole bogey of the day on the next hole but finished strong with a birdie on No. 18 after her 30-foot chip hit the flagstick and stopped inches from the hole.
“Usually when I go to events, I know the people who are playing and I don’t know a lot of the girls here,” said Davis, a Spring Valley, Calif., native and one of the youngest players in the field. “I feel like an underdog here. There’s not as much pressure on you.”
University of Michigan’s Hailey Borja was the first player to finish at one-under-par 71. She is tied for third with Louisiana State University (LSU) standout Ingrid Lindblad of Sweden, and China’s Xiaowen Yin.
Teeing off on No. 10, Lindblad held a share of the lead through her first nine, sinking 15 and 23-foot putts for back-to-back birdies on Nos. 14 and 15. She recorded two bogeys on Nos. 1 and 4 and a birdie on No. 2 to finish her first round at one over par.
“I’m a little bit more confident this year than last year,” said Lindblad, who finished T-3 at the 2021 Augusta National Women’s Amateur. “I hit the ball further so I actually hit a little shorter clubs in this year. It’s a big difference if you have a pitching wedge instead of an 8-iron into the greens.”
Three players, Arizona State senior Alexandra Forsterling of Germany, Latanna Stone of LSU, and China’s Liqi Zeng, sit at even par and tied for sixth place. There are 15 players tied for ninth at one-over-par 73. Second-round starting times for the Augusta National Women’s Amateur are scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday.
