Diksha Dagar and Vani Kapoor start well, Caroline Hedwall leads

01 March 2019: A spotless 65 aided by six birdies helped Amelia Lewis take a slender edge Caroline Hedwall, Noora Komulainen and Manon De Roey, who were all at 66. Diksha Dagar was the best placed Indian, posting an opening round 70 at the Royal Canberra. The Canberra Classic leaderboard was packed to the brim with as many as 27 golfers within four strokes from the leader.

Despite a string of low scores, there were only three women who went bogey-free on Friday. Manon’s clean trek around the course contained three birdies in four holes as he approached the turn at the 18^th hole.

Ingrid Gutierrez Nunez and Karen Pearce were the only others to have gone around the course without any damage to their cards.

Nunez made three birdies in her 68, with the first of them coming on the 18^th hole.

Interestingly Pearce had no birdie as she went 18 straight holes with a par for her 71. She is lying in T39 despite that remarkable effort.

Diksha was three over after ten holes, but she made a fantastic recovery from there. The young Indian golfer scored birdies at the 11^th, 13^th, 15^th and 18^th holes for a commanding finish, despite some early jitters.

Vani Kapoor also began on the 10^th hole and courted trouble soon after. She was down two strokes as she conceded bogeys at the 12^th and 13^th holes. The seasoned Indian golfer did well to make the turn in even when she clocked consecutive birdies just before making the turn at 18.

Bogeys at the second and seventh caused a dent on her card, but a late birdie at the 8^th helped her wrap up for the day with a one-over score of 72.

Amandeep Drall made a 73 after being one under through her first nine, which included a double bogey at the 12^th and three birdies. A bogey at the third and a double at the fifth tarnished her card.

Tvesa Malik and Astha Madan were backmarkers with scores of 76 and 77 respectively. Tvesa shot a fighting 76 containing three bogeys on either side and a lone birdie at the ninth hole, her last on the day.

Astha also endured three bogeys on each stretch as she signed off on a six-over card of 77.