France’s Virginie Lagoutte seized the first round lead in the SAS Masters by posting a five-under-par 67 at Oslo Golf Club in Norway.
At the end of a rainy day in the Norwegian capital, the 27-year-old from Montpelier found herself two shots clear of her nearest challengers England’s Laura Davies, Kirsty Taylor, Sarah Heath and Australians Nikki Garrett and Cherie Byrnes, all on 69.
Lagoutte, whose solitary win on the Ladies European Tour came in the 2005 KLM Ladies Open in Holland, set out in the afternoon after heavy rainfall drenched the course causing the afternoon tee times to be moved back by 20 minutes.
The French woman began in the best fashion with a birdie four at the tenth hole, her first of the day, but followed with a bogey at the 12th which briefly halted her progress.
She birdied holes 16 and 18 to make the turn in 34. An eagle three at the second hole, where she chipped in from 75 feet, saw her name move to the top of leader boards on the parkland course known locally as “Bogstad”.
Then, a bogey four at the third hole was followed by back-to-back birdies at holes six and seven to see Lagoutte come home in 33.
“I like this course because it allows you to be selective,” said Lagoutte, whose fiancé Sebastien Clement, a golf professional on The Alps Tour, is caddying for her in the tournament this week. The pair will wed on 9th December.
“It’s playing long but the key today was my putting. I only had 25 putts, which makes it easy.”
Davies, the winner at the same course in 2002, did not find the greens easy. She carded four birdies and one bogey and three of her bogeys were on the front nine, which played as her back nine.
“The course is set up well to make birdies but the greens are not easy,” said Davies, the current New Star Money List leader.
“The conditions were very much against us and it was a little bit like a quagmire out there. We’ve been rained on all day, apart from the last three holes.
“The course is playing more difficult this year but some of the par-fives are reachable and I think it’s a good set up.”
Taylor, 35, set out in the morning and had a solid front nine. She went out in level par but birdied holes 10, 11, 14 and 16 on her back nine, only to bogey the last when her foot slipped on her second shot and she found the front greenside bunker.
Taylor finished seventh on the same golf course when the Ladies European Tour last visited Norway in 2002 and she said: “I like this course because it’s got a fairly English feel to it.”
Garrett, 22, who seized the lead in the Ryder Cup Wales Rookie of the Year race after a third place in last week’s Wales Ladies Championship, eagled the short par-five second hole, where she put a seven-wood to 15 feet and birdied the par-four 10th.
“The greens were good. I thought they held up pretty well considering the amount of rain they’ve had,” said Garrett, currently ranked 16th on the New Star Money List.
“The course is very wet and you’re getting no run but if you’re hitting it straight then you’re fine!”
Heath, 24, who plays at the De Vere Belfry and known on Tour as “Twiggy”, enjoyed the day after she hired a local caddy. She has struggled this season but admitted that work with her coach Alistair Davies and her sports psychologist John Pates has paid off in recent weeks.
“I played well in Sweden and that was the turning point for me,” she said. “I feel more relaxed and I’m enjoying my golf.”
Four players trailed the lead by five shots on 70 and they were: England’s Rebecca Hudson, the OTP Bank Central European Open Champion, Denmark’s Amanda Moltke Leth, Austria’s Nicole Gergely and last week’s Wales Ladies Championship winner Linda Wessberg of Sweden.
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