The first day of the Ford Women’s New South Wales Open has been a relentless battle against the elements. The second tournament of the year on the Ladies European Tour began with a blanket of water pouring down on the players. From hole 1 to 18 without stopping. The golfers ended up literally playing with two inches of water in their shoes. In addition to the rain, there was wind, sustained at 30 kilometres throughout the day with gusts reaching up to 50. The course, obviously, became saturated and play was suspended shortly after noon with only 24 rounds completed and no less than 63 yet to start.
The harsh conditions at the Wollongong Golf Club have directly translated into the results. Of the 24 players who finished, only two did so under par. The heroines of the day are Danish Sofie Kibsgaard (-2) and German Alexandra Forsterling (-2). Additionally, English Charlotte Heath (-3) is provisionally leading, although she still has three holes left to complete her card.
As for the Spanish players, only Marta Martín (+6) has been able to finish, and she obviously got the worst of it. The forecast for rain tomorrow is also bad, but those who were playing in the afternoon today seem to be at an advantage. The course has received a lot of water, so it remains to be seen how much can be played on Friday and whether the tournament will ultimately be reduced to 54 holes. In any case, not having started playing yet is good news. Marta Sanz and Harang Lee are in this situation.
The best-ranked Spanish player at the moment is Blanca Fernández (+2), although she still has three holes left to complete her round. The Madrid native is in the top 20, and the suspension was a blessing. Conditions were already very difficult at the end. In fact, when the horn sounded, Blanca had a score of +4 over the last three holes, while in the previous eleven she had played two under par without bogeys. Completing the list of Spanish players is the Balearic Luna Sobrón (+5), who has two holes left to finish.
According to Marta Martín speaking to TenGolf, “69mm of rain has fallen, and the fairways of 1, 18, and the green of 5 were completely underwater. The course drains well but is quite saturated overall. I played the last seven holes with water in my shoes. On Friday, those who haven’t finished must be in position at 8am, but there is a forecast for rain tonight and all day tomorrow. We’ll see. The second round wouldn’t start before 13:40.” In other words, fingers crossed, but the outlook isn’t good for the possibility of completing the 72 holes.
