Nastasia Nadaud, the 17-year-old amateur from Aix-les-Bains, carded a flawless six-under-par 65 to take the early first-round lead of the Lacoste Ladies Open de France at Golf Barrière in Deauville on Thursday.
Nadaud, who played in the first morning group from the 10th tee, started with birdies on the par-4 13th and par-5 16th holes. From there, she added four further birdies on the second, fourth, seventh and ninth.
The winner of the German Girls 2022 at St Leon-Rot in June secured a wire-to-wire victory on the LET Access Series at the Goteborg Open six weeks ago and is riding a wave of confidence in her third LET event, following the Jabra Ladies Open and last week’s VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open, where she finished in a tie for 30th place.
“It’s just amazing. I did not expect to be on top of the leaderboard. It’s unbelievable,” said Nadaud, whose mother was caddying for her on the hilltop course in the first round.
“I came here knowing that my game was quite solid. The first time that I played on the LET, I found it quite stressful as I wasn’t used to playing amongst the best European players and then last week I kind of got more used to playing with the pros. I’m getting used to it.
“My goal was to hit fairways and greens and make some putts. Tomorrow, I won’t think about the score. I’ll try to forget about what I did today and get back to zero and then see how things go.”
Anne-Lise Caudal, the most experienced Frenchwoman in the field making her 18th consecutive appearance in the championship, is two strokes behind in second place on four-under-par.
The two-time LET winner, whose last win on the LET came in the German Open 10 years ago, said: “I’m very, very happy with a four-under to start the French Open. It’s always nice to start the week well like that, and especially at home it’s always good. It’s great to start the week under par and we just have to keep going.
“I’ve been playing well for the last few weeks so I’m building some confidence. I really want to do well here in France and I really want to win the French Open so I’m trying to stay focused and stay patient even if I hit a bad shot. I’ve got a goal of six birdies per day. Today I had four but I also had an eagle. Hit a five-wood into the breeze and holed a metre putt.
“I love this tournament and I will play until I retire. I love to play in France, to speak French and to see people that I know, so I feel very comfortable.”
Five…
..
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Ladies European Tour…