IT'S ALL GREEK FOR LIEBELEI AT LET TOUR SCHOOL DAY 1

NEWS RELEASE BY BETHAN CUTLER
Ladies European Tour Media Manager
Liebelei Lawrence, who could become the Ladies European Tour’s first representative from Greece, fired an opening round of four-under par 69 on the par-73 South Course at La Manga Club in the Murcia region of south-east Spain to take a one-stroke lead at Final Qualifying School for the 2011 season.
Lawrence, who turned professional on the eve of the tournament, notched four birdies in a row from the 11th and dropped her only shot of the day on the par-five 18th for a three-under back nine total.
In cold and windy conditions, she closed with a birdie on the par-five ninth hole for a one-under total on the front-nine.
The 24-year-old, who was born in Athens but lives in Luxembourg, finished a stroke ahead of Sweden’s Caroline Hedwall and Spain’s Belen Mozo. French amateur Joanna Klatten and Sweden’s Caroline Westrup were the only other players to beat par and finished on one-under.
There were no scores below par on the par-71 North Course, where nine players finished level for the day. They were Louise Larsson, Isabella Ramsay, Nontaya Srisawang, Kiran Matharu, Ashley Smith, Adriana Zwanck, Mikaela Parmlid, Kim Williams and Monia Bernardo.
Lawrence moved from Greece to Luxembourg aged three and started to play golf at the age of 10. She moved to Florida to attend the David Leadbetter Academy when she was 16 and received a scholarship to play golf for Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.
She intended to turn pro once she graduated but instead took a job in sales, event planning and marketing for a start-up company selling athletic apparel. After 10 months she decided to pursue her dream of playing professional golf and made the leap to the paid ranks with a handicap of +1.6 on Tuesday evening.
“I was a lot more excited than I expected to be. I think I kept my amateur status for comfort but as soon as I did it I felt really happy and it was a weight off my shoulders,” said Lawrence, who speaks five languages fluently.
“I came out really fast. I chipped in on 11 for birdie, which to me was wonderful. From there I strung together four birdies and kept it going. I three-putted 18 but my putting was really good except for on that one hole. I had all pars coming in and then another birdie on the ninth, the last hole.
“It was really cold the first nine holes and then it warmed up but the wind was really rough. I don’t think I realised until I came in. It was steady wind though, no unexpected gusts.”
Hedwall, 21, from Taby, felt comfortable on the course where she shot an eight-under par round at the pre-qualifying stage a fortnight ago.
She said: “I started off with a couple of bogeys and made a birdie on number four, six, ten, 14 and 18. So after that start I was bogey-free, so it was okay.
“I feel confident. We had the European (women's amateur) team championship here this summer so I really know the course really well. I feel very comfortable out there.”
Mozo, who finish in the top 10 at last week's LPGA Final Tour School,  had a flawless round with three birdies on the par fives. The 22-year-old from Cadiz explained: “It was really easy; one of those days that you don’t make any bogeys, you make birdies on the par fives and you hit for birdie on almost every hole.
“The greens are very soft and stepped so it’s very difficult to make putts. The ball doesn’t roll that well but it’s getting very cold so if you cut it shorter it will be bad. It’s good; it was one of those days when the putts didn’t get in and I just made birdies on par fives.”
Westrup, 24, who played on the Duramed Futures Tour this season with a best finish of eighth, was pleased with her steady round of one-under 72 and said: “I am satisfied. It was really tough today on the first couple of holes. It was really windy going off and just trying to be focused on one shot at a time and take the right decisions.”
There will be a cut to the top 50 players and ties after four rounds.
The fifth and final round for the qualifiers will be over the South course. At the end of 90 holes, the top 30 will earn Ladies European Tour playing rights for 2011 in Category 8a. Players finishing in positions 31 to 50 and ties will earn Category 9b.
Players who fail to make the 72-hole cut will be eligible for Membership in Category 11a.

FIRST-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Best scores on par-73 South Course
Liebelei Elena Lawrence (GR) 69
Belen Mozo (SPA) 70
Caroline Hedwall (SWE) 70
Joanna Klatten (FRA) (am) 72
Caroline Westrup (SWE) 72
Best scores on par-71 North Course
Louise Larsson (SWE) 71
Nontaya Srisawang (THA) 71
Isabella Ramsay (SWE) 71
Adriana Zwanck (SPA) 71
Ashley Smith (CAN) 71
Kiran Matharu (ENG) 71
Mikaela Parmlid (SWE) 71
Kim Williams (SAF) (am) 71
Monia Bernardo (PGL) 71

COMBINED SCORES FROM BOTH COURSES
69 Liebelei Elena Lawrence (Greece).
70 Belen Mozo (Spain), Caroline Hedwall (Sweden).
71 Louise Larsson (Sweden), Nontaya Srisawang (Thailand), Isabella Ramsay (Sweden), Adriana Zwanck (Spain), Ashley Smith (Canada), Kiran Matharu (England), Mikaela Parmlid (Sweden), Kim Williams (S Africa), Monia Bernardo (PGL).
72 Joanna Klatten (France) (am), Caroline Westrup (Sweden), Charlie Douglass (England), Cathrine Madsen (Denmark), Stacey Keating (Australia).
73 Jaclyn Sweeney (US), Louise Friberg (Sweden), Juliana Murcia Ortiz (Colombia), Danielle Masters (England).
74 Marion Ricordeau (France), Danielle Bowers (England), Carmen Alonso (Spain), Rachel Bailey (Australia), Garrett Phillips (US), Clare Queen (The Carrick at Loch Lomond), Marieke Nivard (Netherlands) (am), Helena Blomberg (Sweden), Elin Emanuelsson (Sweden), Sara Brown (US), Sara Ardstrom (Sweden), Valentine Derrey (France), Maria Verchenova (Russia).
75 Eva Bjarvall (Sweden), Rachel Bell (England), Viva Schlasberg (Sweden), Connie Chen (S Africa), Carly Booth (Comrie), Celine Palomar (France), Erika Kuwahara (Japan), Julie Tvede (Denmark), Claire Aitken (England), Nathalie David-Mila (France), Lara Tadiotto (Belgium), Zuzana Kamasova (Slovakia), Christine Hallstrom (Sweden), Monica Christiansen (Denmark).
76 Bree Arthur (Australia), Line Vedel Hansen (Denmark) (am), Martina Gillen (Ireland), Melanie Maetzler (Switzerland) (am), Kaisa Ruuttila (Finland), Klara Spilkova (Czech Rep).
77 Iliska Verwey (S Africa) (am), Kate Combes (Australia), Pamela Feggans (Ayrshire), Dawn Shockley (US), Maria Beautell (Spain), Tara Davies (Wales) (amateur), Heather MacRae (Downfield), Sahra Hassan (Wales), Nicole Perrot (Chile), Rachel Jennings (England).
78 Marjet van der Graaff (Netherlands), Hannah Grant (England) (am), Nicole Forshner (Canada), Melodie Bourdy (France), Laura Cabanillas (Spain), Kym Larratt (England), K, Elena Giraud (France), Rhian Wyn Thomas (Wales), Johanna Lundberg (Sweden), Corisande Lee (England).
79 Barbara Genuini (France), Sahra Hassan (Wales) 77, Benedicte Toumpsin (Belgium) (amateur), Caroline Bon (NZ) (am), Camille Fallay (France), Kanna Takanashi (Japan).
80 Antonella Cvitan (Sweden), Elin Andersson (Sweden), Caroline Martens (Norway), Whitney Myers (US), Eva Steinberger (Austria), Vittoria Valvassori (Italy).
81 Chrisje de Vries (Netherlands) (am), Danielle McVeigh (Royal Co Down Ladies) (am).
83 Lene Krog (Norway), Sunny Park (Australia).
84 Audrey Riguelle (France).
85 Wendy Hawkes (NZ).