A chilly morning at the Naturávila Golf course in Ávila welcomed 120 players from 28 different countries for the first day of the Santander Golf Tour LETAS. It was a day that promised excitement with the presence of some prominent names from both tours. On one side, German Helen Briem, an eighteen-year-old amateur and leader of the LET Access Series, was looking to make history by becoming the first player to win three consecutive tournaments on the tour. On the other, María Herráez leads the Santander Golf Tour with two wins in three events played by the Madrid native. Facing them was local player Marta Muñoz, ready to challenge her rivals and demonstrate the importance of competing on home soil.
At the start of the day, some doubts remained about whether the Ávila native would be able to handle the pressure of hosting a tournament in her hometown, and specifically on her own turf. With a serious and determined expression, she teed off with her father as her caddie (who accompanied her as he did at every tournament) on the first tee, intending to put on a show for the fans who had gathered. Of all the local spectators who had been following her from the very beginning, few could have imagined what was about to unfold. With a score of one under par on the third hole, she stepped onto the tee of the longest par three on the course and made a spectacular hole-in-one that surprised everyone. Far from being intimidated, the local player continued her run and finished the first round with a total of thirty strokes, six under par, and a clear leader with a three-stroke advantage over her pursuers.
Following the same pattern as her first round, the golfer from Ávila continued her love affair with the course where she grew up, starting with two birdies on holes eleven and thirteen. A bogey on the fourteenth threatened to spoil a perfect round, but Marta wasn't about to let it get her down. After several consecutive pars, she carded another birdie on the seventeenth hole and finished her day at eight under par, which she herself described as the best round of her life on this course: "I've never played like this at Naturávila; it's the first time I've shot eight under here." When asked about the nerves she felt before the start of the round, she commented humorously: "I was nervous on the first tee, and when I saw my niece, she said, 'Grandma, win some money to buy chocolates,' so I had no choice but to concentrate and try to win so I could buy her all she needs." Regarding the local support, she insisted that "all the birdies I've made have been thanks to the encouragement I've received the whole time. I encourage everyone to come this weekend to support women's golf.".
The other standout name of the morning was Denmark's Cecilie Leth-Nissen. The amateur carded a 66, two strokes behind the leader, and was very pleased with her round: "I found my game from the start. I made a lot of birdies on the front nine and I need to keep this up these next few days, but it's still the first day, there's nothing to celebrate yet." Following her, Norway's Karoline Lund and Iceland's Gudrun Bjorgvinsdottir both finished with solid rounds of four under par.
In the afternoon round, the players had to contend with changeable weather, as the morning sun gave way to clouds and storm warnings. Japan's Maho Hayakawa produced another surprise of the day with a hole-in-one on the third hole, ultimately finishing with a score of five under par, three strokes behind Marta and tied for third place with Marta Spiazzi, Nikki Hofstede, Kajsa Arwefjall, and Chloe Salort. Amateur Helen Briem maintained her consistent play, carding a 70 for a total of two under par.
The rest of the Spanish players struggled to find their rhythm on an afternoon that had to be suspended for twenty minutes due to a storm. The best-placed after the player from Ávila were María Parra at three under par and Elena Hualde at two under, still keeping their hopes alive for tomorrow's round. María Herráez from Madrid, accompanied by a familiar face in Spanish golf, Ignacio Garrido, finished her round at one under par.
Tomorrow, Friday, starting at eight in the morning, the second day will begin, in which only the forty-five best will fight for the champion's trophy on Sunday.
SOURCE: Santander Golf Tour.
