Lottie Woad stars around Portmarnock on day one of Women’s Amateur
Lottie Woad made an impressive start in her bid to claim The 121st Women’s Amateur Championship title as she shared the first round lead at a windswept Portmarnock today.
The world number one and Augusta National Women’s Amateur Champion produced a three-under-par round of 69 at the famous links north of Dublin to match the mark set earlier in the day by the USA’s Farah O’Keefe.Woad, who finished tied 23rd at the Chevron Championship in April in and then competed in the US Women’s Open last month, demonstrated her experience of links golf and her ability to control the ball in strong, gusting winds by producing four birdies and dropping just a single shot on the 17th.
Solid start by Woad
“The back nine was pretty tough with the wind so I was just trying to hit the greens and make pars,” said the 20-year-old. “This is my first time playing here. It’s really good. It played a lot different to the practice round with the wind. It was pretty still yesterday and a lot easier. Today I had a lot longer clubs into the holes.“I wanted it windy. I feel like we are a lot more used to this and are playing in it all the time so I’m happy the wind came.“I’m just trying to keep playing solid and then restart for match play.”O’Keefe capitalised fully on calmer morning conditions to set the early clubhouse lead. The 19-year-old from Austen Texas made her move with a birdie threes on the 9th and the 11th and then birdied two of the last three holes with the only blemish on her card coming with a bogey on the 17th.O’Keefe, who is ranked 35th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR®) and will play as part of the United States’ team in next month’s Arnold Palmer Cup at Lahinch, praised the guidance she received from her caddie.