The question for many was what the weather would be like for the opening day of the Tenerife Ladies Open. As if like magic, the clouds cleared overnight and we woke up in Buenavista del Norte to the sun splitting the sky; a perfect start for the organisers, the Ladies Tour, the players and the spectators alike.
The first tee time on day one was 8.30am so that meant the players would be at the course around 7.30am to hit a few balls and limber up before play commenced. John Beckley MD of Tenerife Magazine was asked at the cocktail party the night before if he would like to caddy for one of the Russian girls Anastasia Kostina, he jumped at the chance (I feel a story coming on)
So John had a job and I think he was more nervous about the golf than the player as on the day a few penalty strokes were imposed on the players as their amateur caddies had made infringement mistakes. On the day our boy came through and had a great experience inside the ropes of a professional golf tournament.
The first day scoring was just fantastic, with the leader in the clubhouse at -6. I played in the Pro Am the day before for Team Poodle and am amazed at the talent these ladies have shown as I found the greens very fast and undulating. If you landed the ball in the wrong spot on almost every green it could lead to an easy three putt and a bogie.
Melissa Reid from England and Ursula Wikstrom from Finland were the overnight clubhouse leaders at -6, with Reid having an eagle on the last to put the shine on a great day’s golf. There were four players tied at -5.Trish Johnston a somewhat veteran had a great day on -5.Last year’s defending champion Felicity Johnston had a one over 73, so still in the mix.
The “Rookie” player, Corrisande Lee, I played 18 with and interviewed earlier in the week for Tenerife Magazine is doing very well at -1 for the day and could be on course for her first ever pay cheque in the professional game, I have my fingers crossed for her, I can report she has started day two well.
Also in the field is a local girl, an amateur, from right here in Tenerife called Katia Reid. She was going well yesterday and at one stage got to -1 but dropped back to +8 for the day. More on her later as I am hoping to speak with her on her experience in the professional game. The projected cut is +3 which will reduce the field from 125 players to the top 60 for the weekend.
So that’s day one; a first class opening day with some great golf played. If anyone would like to come to Buenavista and watch the girls in action there is no charge for entry to this event and you can follow the players on the fairways. If you can’t make it follow proceedings online.
Photos from the Tenerife Ladies Open are on our Flickr Group.
