Gonzalez Garcia Leads With Course Record 

63 at Swiss Ladies Open

NEWS RELEASE

Gams, Switzerland: Spain’s Carolina Gonzalez Garcia shot a first round of nine under par 63 to lead by four shots after the first round of the ASGI Swiss Ladies Open at Gams Werdenberg Golf Club in Switzerland.

Gonzalez Garcia recorded four birdies and a bogey to reach the turn in 33 shots and then caught fire on the back nine covering the final six holes in six under par. The Spanish player’s lowest previous round was four under par so she delighted with her course record.

“I hit it very close and putted very well. I hit every fairway and most of the greens. I hit it to four metres with a 7-iron on the final hole for an eagle. I played aggressively,” she said.

Amateur Rachel Rossel is the leading Swiss player, opening with a 67 to tie for second with Austrian Christine Wolf and Ainil Bakar from Malaysia.

Rossel, who spent a couple of months practicing in the United States over the winter, recorded four birdies, an eagle and one bogey. The 22-year-old from Bern was pleased to have scored so well after struggling with her game coming into the event.

“I was very pleased with five under because I struggled a bit in the last few days. My game was really on point today, I think I hit probably 16 greens and always quite close and wasn’t really fighting for bogeys at all. I did a lot of birdies as well, I’m really pleased with how I played.”

The next closest challengers are Hungary’s Csilla Lajtai-Rozsa and Brazil’s Miriam Nagl, who were both bogey free on their way to matching four under 68s. Nagl found the conditions the most favourable of the week. 

Although there was a one-hour delay for frost in the morning, the strong breeze that had made playing conditions extremely tough in the practice round had subsided.

“The course wasn’t as difficult as it was in the practice rounds. In a way, it probably played as easy as it could with being five degrees Celsius. I think if the wind had blown it would have been much tougher. So it was alright,” Nagl said. “I made a few par saves, six footers, and took advantage of the birdie putts. It couldn’t have been too much better.”

Nagl is currently qualified for this year’s Olympic Games and will combine playing on the LET Access Series with other playing commitments, until the qualification process concludes on July 11.

“I’m playing LETAS to get points for the Olympics so I will probably play them all the way up to July and then focus on the Olympics. They’ve been fun, they’ve been good preparation for the LET events and so I’m happy to be here before Morocco next week.”

Three players, Scots Michele Thomson and Laura Murray, and Sweden’s Lynn Carlsson all shot 69, to be tied at three under par.

Live scoring at:

http://www.letaccess.com/