Poor Start in Sun City

The gloves are off and the fight is on, and to be fair, team SA have not started in the best fashion, conceding an 18 stroke difference against leaders Paraguay on day one.

Laurette Maritz finished 5 over par on the Gary Player Country Club course, and Ashleigh Simon completing her 18 for an 8 over par 80.

The shining lights on day 1 of the Women’s World Cup of Golf were Celeste Troche and Julieta Granada, carding 3-under and 2-under respectively to post Paraguay 5-under for the tournament, four away from South Korea’s one under.

The final two teams to tee of on Friday, hosts South Africa and defending champions Sweden, didn’t live up to expectations, each completing the first day on totals of 13 over par.

Maritz hinted at difficult conditions, but hasn’t given up hope. “It couldn’t be worse, it is pretty hot out there,” said Maritz afterwards. “I played really well on the front nine. I wasn’t making any mistakes.

“And then unfortunately on the second nine I had three holes that didn’t quite go right.  When you get into the rough, it’s tough. We didn’t give up.  We fought until the end, and I even made a birdie on the last hole,” she said.

“I still believe that Ash and I can come back and make a respectable finish. Ash was playing nicely and so was I,” continued Maritz. “We are disappointed today, especially with the high numbers that we had, but we’re going to try to see what we can do in the foursomes tomorrow.”

Ashleigh Simon acknowledged her play missed a stroke. “I was just very up and down,” said Simon. “I’ve been hitting it well all week, but then all of a sudden something went wrong.  I don’t know what it was.

Perhaps the Paraguayan have the best strategy: “Our goal was just to have fun. We practise and play a lot together so we know each other and our games.

Young Kim playing to her 1st day even-par round of 72. Picture: Michael Edwards/ E-image, (c) Women’s World Cup of Golf.

It’s all about having fun,” said Troche. “If you can enjoy yourself and enjoy each other’s company, that’s what it takes.”

And the experts are predicting that with the singles out of the way, the foursomes scheduled for today, and betterball approaching on Sunday, Paraguay will be hard to catch.

Kenya will have the benefit of a cool start this morning, teeing off with Germany at 10:30, while Sweden will again share the first tee with SA 20mins later. Day 1 Leader board highlights Korea and Paraguay will tee off last at noon.