Vani best Indian at tied 20 at Dutch Ladies Open

Hilversum (Netherlands), Jul 20 (PTI) Vani Kapoor carded a steady two-under 70 to emerge as the top Indian at tied 20 on the opening day of the Dutch Ladies Open at Hilversumsche Golf Club.

Vani had three birdies and a lone bogey on Par-3 10th.

Vani began on the tenth with a bogey. But after that, she didn’t put a foot wrong as she picked birdies on the 17th and then two more on the seventh and the eighth for a 70.

Tvesa Malik had two bogeys against a birdie on the fourth for a 1-over 763 and was T-64, while Ridhima Dilawari (73), with two birdies and three bogeys, was also T-64.

The 29-year-old Swiss golfer Kim Metraux fired an opening round of 65 (-7) to take the lead. She rolled back-to-back birdies on holes two and three before adding another on the seventh.

Metraux then went on a birdie blitz on the back nine with birdies on holes 10, 12, 13, 14 and 16 in the Netherlands. She dropped her only shot of the day on the 17th but still sealed a round of seven-under-par.

Three players sit in a share of second place with Eswatini’s Nobuhle Dlamini, who was bogey-free, England’s Gemma Clews and Germany’s Laura Fünfstück all on six-under-par.

England’s Clews only dropped a shot on her way to a round of 66 (-6), as she had seven birdies on her scorecard.

Germany’s Fünfstück, playing late in the afternoon wave, also carded a round of 66, including a bogey, an eagle and five birdies.

Six players rounded out the top 10, with France’s Camille Chevalier, New Zealand’s Momoka Kobori, Norway’s Marianne Skarpnord, Finland’s Sanna Nuutinen, England’s Liz Young and Dutch player Nikki Hofstede — all sitting in T5 on four-under-par.