Pamela Pretswell sharing fifth place in China

Gwladys Nocera hits the front in Xiamen

NEWS RELEASE FROM LET

By Bethan Cutler, LET Media Manager

French Solheim Cup player Gwladys Nocera grabbed the first round lead at the Xiamen International Ladies Open with an opening five under 67 at Orient Golf and Country Club in China.

Starting out in damp conditions, Nocera began with a birdie on the par-4 10^th hole and continued with three more birdies on the back nine on holes 13, 14 and 16.

She took her only bogey of the round on the par-4 second after missing the green and two putting, but from there she recovered with a pair of solid birdies on holes five and nine.

“I played good. I didn’t hit the ball really well but I hit the fairways and greens and I putted really well. I was very offensive on the putting and it worked,” said Nocera, 40, from Moulins.

“It was tough. It was raining a lot and the ball wasn’t going anywhere and the greens were pretty slow for the morning. You have to adjust and deal with it. It was tough but I’m glad I shot a good score today.”

Thai pair Tanaporn Kongkiatkrai and Kusuma Meechai and South Korean Yeon Mi Choi are a shot back on four under par. Kongkiatkrai three-putted on the par-4 first hole but hit five birdies including three in four holes from the ninth. The fifth year professional from Bangkok said: “I hit 15 greens and made some very good up and downs. I holed a good birdie putt of 10 yards so my short game was pretty sharp.”

Playing with a niggling back injury, her target is to play level par for the tournament and she has low expectations. Fellow Thai player Meechai is also taking it day by day. She hit 18 greens in regulation and made four birdies at the fifth, 10^th, 14^th and 18^th in the first round, commenting: “The golf course is not easy. I hit my drives pretty well and long, so that made it much easier. I will try to hit the greens in regulation again tomorrow.”

The recent Tipsport Ladies Masters champion Hannah Burke from England, Scotland’s Pamela Pretswell and Denmark’s Daisy Nielsen are in a seven-way share of fifth place on three under par.

Fellow Dane Nicole Broch Larsen, Alexandra Vilatte from France, Patricia Sanz Barrio from Spain and England’s Liz Young are among the players a stroke further back. Improved weather conditions with temperatures in the high 20s and occasional showers are forecast for the next three days.

Full leader board: 

[+]	1			Gwladys Nocera		F*	-5	67				67
[+]	2			Yeon Mi Choi		F	-4	68				68
[+]	2			Tanaporn Kongkiatkrai		F	-4	68				68
[+]	2			Kusuma Meechai		F	-4	68				68
[+]	5			Hannah Burke		F*	-3	69				69
[+]	5			Yuting Shi		F*	-3	69				69
[+]	5			Pamela Pretswell		F*	-3	69				69
[+]	5			Janya Morrakotphan		F*	-3	69				69
[+]	5			Daisy Nielsen		F	-3	69				69
[+]	5			Yan Liu (a)		F*	-3	69				69
[+]	5			Xiang Sui (a)		F	-3	69				69
[+]	12			Hsuan-Ping Chang		F	-2	70				70
[+]	12			Stacey Keating		F	-2	70				70
[+]	12			Thidapa Suwannapura		F	-2	70				70
[+]	12			Patricia Sanz Barrio		F*	-2	70				70
[+]	12			Jing Yan		F*	-2	70				70
[+]	12			Nicole Broch Larsen		F*	-2	70				70
[+]	12			Liz Young		F	-2	70				70
[+]	12			Man Jin (a)		F	-2	70				70
[+]	12			Punpaka Phuntumabamrung		F	-2	70				70
[+]	12			Alexandra Vilatte		F	-2	70				70
[+]	12			Bo Bea Kim		F	-2	70				70
[+]	23			Nicole Garcia		F	-1	71				71
[+]	23			Szu-Han Chen		F*	-1	71				71
[+]	23			Pei-Yun Chien		F*	-1	71				71
[+]	23			Yan-Hong Pan		F*	-1	71				71
[+]	23			Beth Allen		F*	-1	71				71
[+]	23			Panpan Yan		F*	-1	71				71
[+]	23			Jiayi Zhou		F	-1	71				71
[+]	23			Christine Wolf		F*	-1	71				71
[+]	23			Nanna Koerstz Madsen		F*	-1	71				71
[+]	23			Li Ying Ye		F	-1	71				71
[+]	23			Hye In Yeom		F	-1	71				71
[+]	23			Ai-Chen Kuo		F*	-1	71				71
[+]	23			Louise Stahle		F*	-1	71				71
[+]	36			Becky Brewerton		F	E	72				72
[+]	36			So-Young Jang		F*	E	72				72
[+]	36			Rebecca Artis		F*	E	72				72
[+]	36			Ssu-Chia Cheng		F*	E	72				72
[+]	36			Titiya Plucksataporn		F	E	72				72
[+]	36			Wei Wei Zhang		F*	E	72				72
[+]	36			Saraporn Chamchoi		F*	E	72				72
[+]	36			Eleanor Givens		F	E	72				72
[+]	36			Pei-Lin Yu		F*	E	72				72
[+]	36			Sha Wu		F	E	72				72
[+]	36			Piyathida Ployumsri		F	E	72				72
[+]	36			Anne Van Dam		F*	E	72				72
[+]	36			Liqing Chen		F*	E	72				72
[+]	36			Florentyna Parker		F*	E	72				72
[+]	36			Caroline Martens		F	E	72				72
[+]	36			Tzu-Chi Lin		F*	E	72				72
[+]	36			Hyeon Seo Kang		F*	E	72				72
[+]	53			Rebecca Hudson		F	+1	73				73
[+]	53			Isabelle Boineau		F*	+1	73				73
[+]	53			Nontaya Srisawang		F*	+1	73				73
[+]	53			Ursula Wikstrom		F*	+1	73				73
[+]	53			Dan Li		F	+1	73				73
[+]	53			Holly Aitchison		F*	+1	73				73
[+]	53			Yu-Ling Hsieh		F*	+1	73				73
[+]	53			Laura Jansone		F	+1	73				73
[+]	53			Marta Sanz Barrio		F	+1	73				73
[+]	53			Wannasiri Sirisampant		F	+1	73				73
[+]	53			Ling Ling Tan		F	+1	73				73
[+]	53			Fabienne In-Albon		F	+1	73				73
[+]	53			Nina Holleder		F*	+1	73				73
[+]	53			Yu Yu Zhang		F	+1	73				73
[+]	53			Minea Blomqvist		F*	+1	73				73
[+]	53			Amelia Lewis		F	+1	73				73
[+]	53			Paula Hurtado		F	+1	73				73
[+]	53			Leigh Whittaker		F*	+1	73				73
[+]	53			Connie Chen		F*	+1	73				73
[+]	53			Juanjuan Tao		F*	+1	73				73
[+]	53			Stephanie Na		F	+1	73				73
Projected Cut +1
[+]	74			Ji Hae Jang		F	+2	74				74
[+]	74			Valentine Derrey		F	+2	74				74
[+]	74			Ziqi Ye		F*	+2	74				74
[+]	74			Chloe Leurquin		F*	+2	74				74
[+]	74			Isabella Ramsay		F	+2	74				74
[+]	74			Hsin Ning Yeh		F*	+2	74				74
[+]	74			Carly Booth		F	+2	74				74
[+]	74			Lei Ye (a)		F*	+2	74				74
[+]	74			Pannarat Thanapolboonyaras		F*	+2	74				74
[+]	74			Lina Boqvist		F*	+2	74				74
[+]	84			Ann-Kathrin Lindner		F	+3	75				75
[+]	84			Ploychompoo Wirairungrueng		F	+3	75				75
[+]	84			Caroline Hedwall		F*	+3	75				75
[+]	84			Noora Tamminen		F	+3	75				75
[+]	84			Emily Kristine Pedersen		F*	+3	75				75
[+]	84			Kelsey Macdonald		F	+3	75				75
[+]	84			Cathryn Bristow		F	+3	75				75
[+]	84			Ashleigh Simon		F*	+3	75				75
[+]	84			Jaruporn Palakawong Na Ayutthaya		F*	+3	75				75
[+]	84			Trish Johnson		F*	+3	75				75
[+]	84			Kylie Walker		F*	+3	75				75
[+]	84			Victoria Lovelady		F	+3	75				75
[+]	84			Sarah Kemp		F*	+3	75				75
[+]	97			Xin Xia		F*	+4	76				76
[+]	97			Georgina Simpson		F	+4	76				76
[+]	97			Sally Watson		F*	+4	76				76
[+]	97			Rungthiwa Pangjan		F	+4	76				76
[+]	97			Aunchisa Utama		F*	+4	76				76
[+]	97			Pennapa Pulsawath		F	+4	76				76
[+]	97			Rui Wang		F	+4	76				76
[+]	97			Wenqi Zhu (a)		F*	+4	76				76
[+]	97			Sophie Sandolo		F	+4	76				76
[+]	106			Cuixia Chen		F*	+5	77				77
[+]	106			I-Wen Chen		F*	+5	77				77
[+]	106			Whitney Hillier		F*	+5	77				77
[+]	106			Yu Yang Zhang		F*	+5	77				77
[+]	106			Yue Xia Lu		F	+5	77				77
[+]	106			Sophie Walker		F	+5	77				77
[+]	106			Supakchaya Pattaranakrueang		F	+5	77				77
[+]	106			Xiaohong Chen		F	+5	77				77
[+]	106			Jienalin Zhang		F	+5	77				77
[+]	115			Yezhou Lin		F	+6	78				78
[+]	115			Malene Jorgensen		F	+6	78				78
[+]	115			Emma Westin		F	+6	78				78
[+]	118			Meng-Chu Chen		F	+7	79				79
[+]	118			Narisara Kerdrit		F	+7	79				79
[+]	118			Vikki Laing		F	+7	79				79
[+]	118			Xing'E Wang		F	+7	79				79
[+]	118			Saruttaya Ngam-Usawan		F*	+7	79				79
[+]	118			Tiranan Yoopan		F	+7	79				79
[+]	124			Hsien Wen Huang		F	+8	80				80
[+]	125			Chang Yu Qiao		F*	+9	81				81
[+]	125			Ni Tang		F*	+9	81				81