Nicole Garcia opened her campaign in the Ladies European Tour’s VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open on Thursday with a superb bogey-free seven-under-par 65 to head into the second round just one shot off the lead.
She got off to a great start with a birdie on the first, and she picked up three more ahead of the turn, on the fourth, fifth and the ninth to turn in four-under 31. She gained another shot with a birdie on the 10th, and then she made two more down the stretch on 15 and 17.
That put her in a share of third behind the leaders Chloe Williams of Wales and Marianne Skarpnord of Norway. Williams was bogey-free for her round, after she made 29 on the front nine, and Skarpnord had an ace on her card on the par-three 15th. She bogeyed the last.
Garcia was in a group of four players one stroke behind, sharing third with Kelsey Macdonald of Scotland, Swede Johanna Gustavsson and Swiss amateur Elena Moosmann.
Casandra Hall had bogeys at the start of each of her nines, but she managed to recover well enough to card a three-under-par 69 for a share of 19th. Stacy Bregman signed for a level-par 72 for a share of 55th together with Swaziland’s Nobuhle Dlamini. Lejan Lewthwaite slid to four-over-par by the sixth hole, but recovered well from a round with two double-bogeys to sign for a one-over and a share of 69th.
