March 14, 2014: India’s Sharmila Nicollet carded one under 70 to be tied 16th in the opening round of Lalla Meryem Cup in Agadir. While, Neha Tripathi , playing in Agadir on invitation of sponsors, carded six-over 77 on first day of the tournament.
Meanwhile, England’s Rebecca Hudson and Sophie Walker fired a pair of five-under-par 66s at Golf de l’Ocean in Agadir to share the first round lead at the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco.
Hudson birdied two of the last three holes to grab the lead on a becalmed morning while Walker teed off and finished in blustery conditions in the afternoon.
Playing in her first tournament of the season, Hudson reproduced the form that led to her winning four titles on the Ladies European Tour, including three in 2008.
“I’m very happy,” said Hudson. “I hit the ball well. I haven’t done as much practice as I would like but I came out and practised here the last few days. I had the ball under control and putted well and that makes a big difference. Hopefully I can keep this going forward.”
Walker hit every fairway and made six birdies and one bogey. She said: “Yesterday I had an afternoon practice round and I thought that would be good preparation because it always gets really windy here. I holed a decent putt on 11 and knocked it really close. Two under after three, you’ve got to take advantage of that.
Sophie Walker also had six birdies and one bogey in the first round.
Sophie Giquel-Bettan, winner of the Ladies Open de Portugal in 2007, mixed six birdies with two bogeys to sit alone in third on four-under.
Ariya Jutanugarn, Jing Yan, Nina Holleder, Charley Hull and Laura Davies share fourth place on three-under-par.
The 22-year-old from Bangalore, Sharmila Nicollet is only Indian Playing on the Ladies European Tour since 2012.
