Charlotte Heath will sleep on the lead of the Ford Women’s New South Wales Open, but there’s quite the asterisk.
Torrential rain brought play to a premature end, with more than 40mm falling on Wollongong Golf Club, allowing only eight groups to complete their opening rounds.
Play was first suspended at 12.55 pm, then abandoned at 3.30 pm with an expected return at 8 am on Friday.
Heath, from Huddersfield in northern England but based in Florida, was playing a spectacular round given the conditions and reached three under with three holes left when play was called.
Two players – Denmark’s Sofie Kibsgaard and Germany’s Alexandra Forsterling – completed their rounds with two-under-par 69s.
But proving the quality of those performances, England’s Annabell Fuller (-1 with three holes to play) is the only other player under par with the conditions, having already ruined the chances of many in the co-sanctioned LET field.
So how good were those rounds?
Forsterling, 26, is regarded as a world-class player.
But even accounting for her own modesty, she said she may never have played better than during the four-and-a-half-hour torture test in the treacherous conditions.
“I didn’t even know what I was shooting because I was just concentrating on hitting the ball and trying to stay somewhat dry,” Forsterling said.
“But it was probably one of the most brutal rounds I’ve ever played. It was crazy.
“I don’t know, but it probably feels (more) like a 59 or something. I mean it feels insane.
“I was actually surprised when I heard that I shot minus two, because I really, really didn’t count.”
As Kibsgaard did a couple of groups ahead, Forsterling rode a hot putter through the middle of her round.
Ford Women’s NSW Open – Leaderboard
The Dane, who started on the 10th hole, eagled the downwind par-five 13th and was four under at one point, having rolled in several 10-foot putts for birdies.
“I just tried to hit the middle of the greens, (but I) hit some good shots that ended up close and I made a lot of putts,” said Kibsgaard, who estimated the into-the-wind holes were playing up to 20 per cent longer than listed.
“I had a lot of good up-and-downs as well… it was just a lot of good momentum on a tough day.”
Heath, who also started on the 10th, made a lovely long putt on the 11th to kickstart her round, but gave it back when she inexplicably pulled her tee shot to the short 12th way left.
“Honestly, I still have no idea what I was doing there,” said Heath, who quickly put it behind her and peeled off four birdies in her next five holes to storm to the lead.
“I think in this weather you have to take one shot at a time. You really can’t think, `Oh, this is a gettable hole’, because you have no idea what anything is doing.”
“So I was just hitting shots and trying to eliminate issues. You just have to think your way around a lot in these conditions.”
“But I’m honestly glad we’re not playing any more. It did get to a point where it was unplayable. But they called it in good time and they’ve made a good decision to send everyone home.”
But while the former Australian Amateur champ is happy with her form, she wasn’t getting overly excited about sleeping on the lead.
“Not really, there are still three and a half days to go, but it’s a good start.”
Live: Wollongong Golf Club
Sat 28th – Sun 1st
12:00 pm – 5:00 pm
