Hero Women's Indian Open: Sara Kouskova conquers ‘fast greens' to take Day 1 honours

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Gurugram, Oct 24: Czech Republic's Sara Kouskova conquered the tricky Black Knight layout to sit at the top of the leaderboard after the opening round of the Hero Women's Indian Open here on Thursday (October 24).

With a slope rating of 150, the DLF Golf & Country is hailed as one of the toughest courses not only in India but Asia as well.

The hard greens made it difficult for almost every other golfer to putt on a tennis-ball-like bounce surface, which is usually expected on day three. The softness of the greens was missing on Day 1, making it tougher for the players.

This statistic made the lives of some of the top Ladies European Tour (LET) pros really difficult, let alone the local hopes like Diksha Dagar (78) and Tvesa Malik (77). Three golfers were unable to finish their rounds due to bad light.

Sara's hot putter coupled with her understanding of the 'fast greens' helped her take the clubhouse lead by one stroke in the $400,000 event after submitting a card of three-under 69.

Starting from the 10th tee, Kouskova sank back-to-back birdies before stumbling upon a triple bogey on the 13th hole. However, an eagle on the 15th helped her quickly recover from the trouble. On the back nine, Kouskova drained three birdies to go atop the leaderboard.

"The greens are firm and fast, but I really enjoy fast greens. They rolled it really nicely. If you pick the right line and find the right place, it's definitely going in. It's just the first day, so a lot of golf, yet to be played. We have to be patient and confident over the next few days," Kouskova told MyKhel later.

The 25-year-old, who finished 55th out of 60 golfers at the women's individual strokeplay competition in the Paris Olympics, secured her LET card after finishing 55th in the LET Order of Merit with her tied fifth finish in the Hero Women's Indian Open in 2023 boosting her standings. In her rookie season, she won the LET Access Series Order of Merit back in 2022.

"Had a good week in India last year where I finished fifth and earned the LET card for this year, so that was a good memory. The Olympics was an incredible experience. It was a dream. I was so happy to compete, although I wanted to perform much better," added the University of Texas graduate, who picked up golf at the age of five with some coaxing from her father.

Close on her heels is a chasing pack led by Mireia Prat (70) of Spain, France's Perrine Delacour (70) and Florentyna Parker (70) of England. Only seven pros carded under-par rounds in the 114-strong field.

LET Order of Merit leader Chiara Tamburlini of Switzerland also endured frustration as she carded two-over 74 to lie tied 17th. "I didn't have my best day today. Have some work to do over the next three days. It was not easy.

"I also didn't strike the ball that well. I hit a lot of greens but whenever I missed the green I made bogey and I couldn't control the ball as much as I would have liked to. I am quite upset with the course but it is the same for everyone. If you play good golf and hit good shots, you can still do well. It's good to grind it out sometimes," Tamburlini said.

Diksha, who is placed 22nd on the LET Order of Merit, admitted that her 'chemistry with the course' was missing on Thursday. "I didn't match the chemistry with the course. Tough day, missed putts. Landed on the wrong side."

"Greens were playing very fast. Very challenging to control the ball. The green speed was 12. I was playing here after a long time, so couldn't get used to the speed. Last time I practiced a lot. I was coming off a tournament in Taiwan where the course was quite slow. They rolled the surface a little too much," Diksha added.

Meanwhile, sharing the fifth place were Singapore's Shannon Tan, Maria Hernandez of Spain and WGAI invitee Maha Haddioui of Morocco on 1-under 71 each while there was a five-way tie for eighth place on even-par 72 between Agathe Sauzon of France, Norway's Marianne Skarpnord, Momoka Kobori of New Zealand, Australian Kirsten Rudgeley and Alice Hewson of England.

Ridhima Dilawari and Pranavi Urs led the home challenge with 2-over par 74s in a big group that was tied for 17th place with promising amateur Zara Anand a shot behind in shared 34th place with fellow amateurs Mannat Brar and Janneya Dasanniee a further stroke behind in tied 41st position.