FORT MYERS, Fla. – The first round of the Florida Women’s Open & Senior Open was a success as play kicked off at 7:30 am at The Forest Country Club. The field was spread out across The Bear Course and the Bobcat Course, which each provide an excellent test of golf to all the competitors.
Open Division
Lauren Clark emerged as the solo leader during the first round firing a two-under-par, 70. She carded five birdies over the 18 holes to hold a one stroke lead over the field. Clark competed last week in the Women’s Amateur Stroke Play Championship where she found herself in contention and in the final pairing on the last day. She explained how it felt coming straight into this tournament, “When you have back-to-back tournaments, it’s really easy to get momentum going. For me, I did not finish off where I wanted to at the WASP, so it really made me go back and work hard for two days and then come straight into this practice round. It’s easy to get momentum and keep it, so hopefully I can ride that momentum through.”
Jordan Fischer, the defending champion, is also back in contention after the first round firing a one-under-par, 71. Fischer had a steady round carding only two birdies and one bogey en route to her under par round. Fischer became the first amateur to win the Open Division last year and hopes to continue her reign as she makes her way to Sunday this year. She said, “It feels great, especially because my last tournaments haven’t been as good, so seeing progress and my hard work pay off really feels good.”
Past champion, Sandra Angulo Minarro, share second place with Fischer only one stroke off the lead. Minarro found three birdies over the 18 holes. Angulo Minarro played The Bear Course today and will switch courses to The Bobcat course for the second round.
Senior Division
Leta Lindley and Christa Johnson share first place at four-under-par, 68. Johnson carded six birdies on her front nine and posted a six-under-par, 30 to make the turn with a large lead. Johnson described her mindset, “I play point A golf, which means there’s no point B. It’s always new, and it’s always one shot, one shot, and then another shot and you do the best you can on each shot.” However, she fell victim to a few bogeys on the second nine while at the same time, Lindley heated up. Lindley posted three birdies on her bogey free back nine.
Charlotta Sorenstam and Laurel Kean share third place at two-under-par. Past champion, Jackie Gallagher-Smith, Vicki Goetze-Ackerman, and Tara Joy-Connelly are not far behind the top finishing at one-under-par.
What’s Next
Tomorrow, the second round will begin as players swap courses. Each player will play 18 holes on the Bear Course and 18 holes on the Bobcat Course before the cut is made after completion of the second round tomorrow. The field will be cut to the low 60 and ties after 36 holes. Each division will have a separate cut line. The number of players making the cut in each division will be based on the ratio of Open players to Senior Open players at the start of round one.
