Agatha Laisne stamped her class on the opening round of the MCB Ladies Classic shooting a course record 64 at the Legend Golf Course at Constance Belle Mare Plage.
A rather tongue in cheek question was posed to the LET Order of Merit leader in the press conference when she was asked: “Would this be the worst place to miss the cut?”. Her response on the beach front press venue was the same as it was on the Hugh Baiocchi designed course which winds through an indigenous forest and along one of Mauritius’s most stunning lagoons.
“No one wants to miss a cut … ever. We are here to play well and definitely play all three days,” she said.
And her answer on the course?
A stunning 64 to set the pace and a new record for the remaining 119 players to chase.
Laisne, who won the Joburg Open in the middle of May, made a fairly benign start with a birdie and a par in her opening five holes before she caught fire.
Three more birdies in her next four holes set her up for a tilt on the back nine and she duly obliged. Birdies at 10 and 11 were the starters for a buffet of birdies from 13-15.
A bogey at 16 helped bring the field closer but Laisne birdied the signature 17 hole before closing with a par.
South Africa’s Cara Gorlei is in solo second place after firing a round of 65 (-7) which included two eagles on day one.
The 30-year-old had two eagles, six birdies and three bogeys on her scorecard to be one shot behind Laisné after 18 holes.
“I’m very happy with it. If you gave me a 65 on Monday, I would have taken it. It was a grind out there, pretty hot and very windy, but I enjoyed it,” said Gorlei.
“The eagle on 18 was great. I really needed it. I hit my 4-rion to about 6-foot and made the putt. Then on the fourth, I hit it just short of the green, probably 15 short and chipped it in, so it was great.
“I started off on the back nine, and I started off birdie-par-birdie, so I thought let’s go. I hit a couple bad swings and missed the green. I was probably three-over when I missed the green, so that was not good. I said to my caddie, let’s just try to hit the greens because it’s clearly working. It was important to just stay in the moment, just focus on every shot.
“I hit a lot of fairways, so I was happy with that. Driver is not always my strong point, but I got it working. I was a little bit nervous. I didn’t know on the range this morning, I was hitting it all over the place. But when you get out there and you start just honing in on your targets and hitting them, I did that pretty well today.”
Denmark’s Smilla Tarning Soenderby is in outright third place one shot further back after her round of 66 (-6).
Article Link: Laisne shoots course record, SA's Gorlei one back in Mauritius