Three share lead in English women's

stroke-play at Enmore Park

NBWS RELEASE ISSUED BY ENGLISH WOMEN'S GOLF ASSOCIATION
Three players share the lead on one-over par after the wet and windy first day of the English women’s open strokeplay championship at Enmore Park, Somerset.
Home players, Charlotte Ellis of Gloucestershire and Charlotte Dalton of Warwickshire, are joined at the top of the leaderboard by Monique Smit of South Africa.
Monique, 18, is spending eight weeks playing golf in Britain and is taking advantage of the new, open status of this championship.
She’s a plus-one player who intends to turn professional and who already has a host of titles to her name. “Back home it’s winter and our season has basically died down so I’ve come here and I’m really enjoying it. It’s a shame about the weather – but, hey, it’s the same for everyone out there,” she said.
“I was pleased with my round today. The course is playing hard and long and it’s very wet. It’s all about staying patient and pacing yourself and I did that pretty well,” added Monique, who had two birdies in the last three holes.
Charlotte Dalton, who was one of the early starters, set an unbeatable target with her steady round. She had two birdies and three bogeys on her card and she scored one-over on the front nine, level par on the back.
“I was chuffed with that,” she said. “I’ve struggled a bit over the past few weeks to put a score together, so I was very pleased. My putting was better and it’s nice to be back on track.” Charlotte Ellis, meanwhile, staged a remarkable recovery after she reached the turn at five-over par, which included three double bogeys.
“I didn’t play badly, I just had a couple of drives which I drew too much above the trees and which were pushed out of bounds by the wind. “I did make one bad swing and put my ball in the water on the 7th but the rest of the round was going all right. I was disappointed to be five-over at the ninth and felt I should be one-over or level par, so I kept plugging away and the putts started dropping.”
Charlotte, a past English mid-amateur champion, had five birdies on the back nine, including a consecutive run on the last three holes.
The trio are a stroke ahead of a group of four players which includes the 2008 English champion, Hannah Barwood of Gloucestershire.
The Somerset challenge is led by Hannah Grant, who is playing on her own course, and shares ninth place on four over par. After the second round the top 36 players and ties will go forward to the final 36 holes on Thursday.
Leading scores
73 Charlotte Dalton (Ladbrook Park), Charlotte Ellis (Minchinhampton), Monique Smit (Oubaai).
74 Cori Lee (West Lancashire), Kym Larratt (Kibworth), Hannah Burke (Mid-Herts), Hannah Barwood (Knowle).
75 Raffi Dyer (Hayling).
76 Melissa McMahon (Yeovil), Katie Mundy (Dunwood Manor), Charlotte Wild (Mere), Kate Whitmore (Sandiway), Jo Hodge (Knowle), Tara Watters (Muswell Hill), Bronte Law (Bramhall), Hannah Grant (Enmore Park).
Full details and hole-by-hole scoring: www.englishwomensgolf.orgImages: leaderboardphotography.com