An ace on the sixth on Thursday helped Casandra Alexander to a three-under-par 69 in the first round of the Ladies European Tour’s Aramco Team Series presented by PIF Riyadh Golf Club in Saudi Arabia.
The hole-in-one came after Alexander had made two bogeys to open up her first-round effort, on the first and the fifth. She dropped another shot on the eighth, before picking up her first birdie of the day on the ninth to turn in level-par 36. She made three birdies without dropping a shot on the back nine, and he three-under put her four shots off the lead.
There was a three-way tie at the top of the leaderboard, with England’s Charley Hull, Slovenia’s Pia Babnik and Spain’s Luna Sobron Galmes all locked on seven-under-par. One shot back in a tie for fourth were Spain’s Carlota Ciganda, Wales’s Lydia Hall and Sweden’s Moa Folke. France’s Nastasia Nadaud, Germany’s Helen Briem and Mimi Rhodes from England rounded out the top 10 in a tie for seventh on five-under par.
In a share of 17th with Alexander was her countrywoman Lee-Anne Pace, who made four birdies and a bogey in her three-under-par 69.
Nicole Garcia opened with a one-under-par 71 for a share of 46th.
