Vikki Laing in contention at Deutsche Bank Ladies Swiss Open

 - I'd forgotten how much fun it was

FROM THE LADIES' EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Aussie Kristie Smith leads by one stroke at the Deutsche Bank Ladies Swiss Open after an opening round of seven under par 65 in fine conditions at Golf Gerre Losone.
The 21-year-old West Australian said that a red hot putter helped her to establish her lead ahead of England’s Georgina Simpson and Vikki Laing (pictured right) of Scotland.
The second year professional, playing her first season on the LET, carded eight birdies and just one bogey on a drenched course, which later dried out in the sunshine.
“I had 26 putts and that’s always nice to have on the statistics,” Smith said. “I drove it pretty average but holed some putts, which was where the 65 came from.
“I felt really comfortable, even after the yippy start I had on the 11th hole. I feel really comfortable on this golf course. It suits my eye and I’ve been here since Friday so I’ve had a really good warm up.”
Starting at the 10th, Smith missed a short birdie putt at the 11th hole but a birdie barrage followed. She birdied four holes in a row from the 12th hole and picked up two more shots at the par four 17th and par five 18th holes.
At six under after nine holes, she added further birdies at the first and sixth to reach eight under, before dropping her only shot at the par-3 seventh, just missing her second putt.
Smith, a runner-up in Slovakia three weeks ago, was joined on the fairways by her father, famed professional golfer Wayne, who was in Europe on business.
“It’s nice to have him here because I’ve been struggling a bit with my swing so it’s nice to get a check up,” said Smith, whose said that her first sporting memories are of spending time in the crèches at golf tournaments where Wayne was playing.
After winning two events already in 2010, at the Royal Canberra Ladies Classic on the ALPG in Australia and the Daytona Beach Invitational on the Duramed Futures Tour, Smith is in pursuit of her first victory on the Ladies European Tour and she says that work with her coach Ian Triggs is starting to pay off.
“I’ve been putting a whole lot better this year and that’s probably why I’ve been playing so well. My chipping has improved out of sight. I’ve been working really hard on that so definitely the short game has had a bit of improvement,” said the former Australian Amateur Champion.
When asked her ambitions for the tournament, she said: “A win here would be absolutely perfect.”
Simpson, who started at the first hole, began in similar fashion with four birdies in a row from the second and carded another at the ninth for an outward nine of five under. The 34-year-old ninth year LET player added birdies at the 11th, 17th and 18th holes, but bogeyed the 14th and 16th.
“My head is not straight at the moment because I’m full of cold but to have eight birdies and two bogeys for a six under is great,” said Simpson, from Cleckheaton in Yorkshire. Commenting on her tap-in birdie at the 11th she added: “It was unfortunate because another half a roll and it would have been in.”
Laing was delighted with her 66, which included four birdies in a row from the 18th to the third hole.
“I putted really well today. I had a lot of chances at birdie and I happened to make quite a lot of them, almost all of them, so that was pretty exciting,” said the 29-year-old second-year LET player from Musselburgh. “It’s kind of nice to get on a birdie run again. I’d forgotten how much fun it was.”
Six players finished two strokes back in a share of fourth place at four under par. They were Australian Frances Bondad, Austrian Nicole Gergely, Anne-Lise Caudal of France, Germany’s Caroline Masson, Beth Allen of the United States and South African Stacy Lee Bregman.
FIRST ROUND
Par 72
65 Kristie Smith (Aus)
66 Georgina Simpson (Eng), Vikki Laing (Sco)
68 Frances Bondad (Aus), Nicole Gergely (Aut), Anne-Lise Caudal (Fra), Caroline Masson (Ger), Beth Allen (USA), Stacy Lee Bregman (Rsa)
69 Johanna Westerberg (Swe), Lee-Anne Pace (Rsa), Rebecca Coakley (Irl), Krystle Caithness (Sco), Florence Luscher (Swi), Christel Boeljon (Ned), Sophie Giquel (Fra)
70 Holly Aitchison (Eng), Kim Welch (USA), Lisa Hall (Eng), Ashleigh Simon (Rsa), Anja Monke (Ger), Linda Wessberg (Swe), Ursula Wikstrom (Fin), Jessica Ji (Kor), Titiya Plucksataporn (Tha), Jade Schaeffer (Fra), Melissa Reid (Eng), Trish Johnson (Eng), Sophie Walker (Eng), Bo Mi Suh (Kor), Melodie Bourdy (Fra), Marjet van der Graaff (Ned)
71 Rhian Wyn Thomas (Wal), Stefania Croce (Ita), Marta Prieto (Spa), Carin Koch (Swe), Rebecca Flood (Aus), Kate Combes (Aus), Carmen Alonso (Spa), Joanne Mills (Aus), Breanne Loucks (Wal), Becky Brewerton (Wal), Virginie Lagoutte-Clement (Fra), Lotta Wahlin (Swe), Kyra van Leeuwen (Ned), Elin Emanuelsson (Swe), Clare Queen (Sco), Lara Katzy (Ger)
72 Jeehae Lee (Kor), Martina Gillen (Irl), Dana Lacey-Johnson (Aus), Nathalie David-Mila (Fra), Smriti Mehra (Ind), Elizabeth Bennett (Eng), Karen Lunn (Aus), Nina Reis (Swe), Ana Larraneta (Spa), Claire Aitken (Eng), Margherita Rigon (Ita), Hanna-Leena Salonen (Fin)
73 Sherlyn Popelka (Swi), Laura Cabanillas (Spa), Tandi Cuningham (Rsa), Camille Fallay (Fra), Caroline Rominger (Swi), Lynn Kenny (Sco), Malene Jorgensen (Den), Mollie Fankhauser (USA), Stefanie Michl (Aut), Lydia Hall (Wal), Felicity Johnson (Eng), Federica Piovano (Ita)
74 Hannah Ralph (Eng), Kylie Walker (Sco), Corisande Lee (Eng), Rebecca Hudson (Eng), Riikka Hakkarainen (Fin), Valeria Martinoli (Swi), Jo Pritchard (Wal), Kym Larratt (Eng), Caroline Afonso (Fra), Marina Arruti (Spa), Maria Verchenova (Rus)
75 Lynnette Brooky (Nzl), Anais Maggetti (Swi), Sophie Sandolo (Ita), Nikki Garrett (Aus), Elena Giraud (Fra), Rebecca Huber (Swi), KM Juul (Den), Maria Boden (Swe), Anna Tybring (Swe), Pamela Feggans (Sco), Laurette Maritz (Rsa), Julie Maisongrosse (Fra), Hazel Kavanagh (Irl), Josefin Leijon (Swe), Julie Greciet (Fra)
76 Julie Tvede (Den), Cassandra Kirkland (Fra), Veronica Zorzi (Ita), Emelie Lind (Swe), Jenni Kuosa (Fin), Christine Hallstrom (Swe), Morgana Robbertze (Rsa), Cecilie Lundgreen (Nor)
77 Carly Booth (Sco), Anna Rossi (Ita), Florentyna Parker (Eng), Tara Delaney (Irl), Monica V.Christiansen (Den), Emma Cabrera-Bello (Spa), Johanna Lundberg (Swe)
78 Karin Borjeskog (Swe), Lisa Holm Sorensen (Den), Frederique Seeholzer (Swi), Henrietta Zuel (Eng), Amanda Moltke-Leth (Den)
79 Antonella Cvitan (Swe), Elisabeth Esterl (Ger), Nora Angehrn (Swi)
80 Johanna Mundy (Eng), Bettina Hauert (Ger), Mariana Macias Capuzzi (Spa)
81 Ludivine Kreutz (Fra)
83 Denise-Charlotte Becker (Ger)