Ladies Scottish Open: Testing opening day as Renaissance Club bares its teeth

Gemma Dryburgh off to a promising start following fog delay as some big names struggle on tougher course set-up

Gemma Dryburgh of Scotland plays her tee shot to the 10th hole during day one of the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club. Picture: Mark Runnacles/Getty Images

This is what Jerry Sarvadi wanted. The CEO of the East Lothian venue didn’t enjoy seeing his beloved Renaissance Club being made to look a pussycat last summer. It was painful for him to see Austrian Bernd Wiesberger win the men’s Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open with a 22-under-par total and equally so as Korea’s MJ Hur shot 20-under a few weeks 
later to claim the title in the women’s equivalent.

It didn’t help, of course, that in the men’s event in particular there wasn’t even a puff of wind over the four days and the course had been softened by heavy rain in the early part of the week. But Sarvadi, who runs the exclusive venue on Scotland’s Golf Coast on behalf of his brothers, reckoned the course set-ups had been a contributing factor, something Rory McIlroy certainly picked up on.

Speaking at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship later in the year, the four-time major winner singled out the Scottish Open as he criticised the European Tour for making some of the tests too easy. “I think if the European Tour want to put forth a really good product, the golf courses and set-ups need to be tougher, he said.”

In this paper earlier in the week, Sarvadi echoed that view as he looked forward to The Renaissance Club staging another Scottish Open double-header this year and, on the evidence of the opening round of the women’s event, it is indeed being allowed to show some of its teeth on this occasion by the LPGA and LET tournament officials.

On a course taken apart last year by Wiesberger and Hur as they shot 61 and 62 respectively, a four-under 67 from Dane Nicole Broch Larsen was the best anyone could muster after an early-morning haar hanging above the Firth of Forth delayed the start of play by two hours. Admittedly with the rough up a bit from last year, only 21 players were under par when play was halted for the day at 8.35pm with 27 still to complete their opening circuits.

Broch Larsen made the most of being out early in nothing more than a gentle breeze, as did Spaniard Azahara Munoz and Scottish No 1 Gemma Dryburgh as they shot 68 and 69 respectively in the same group. A wind gusting up to 25mph in the afternoon, though, sent some scores soaring. In her first taste of links golf, reigning AIG Women’s Open champion Hinako Shibuno from Japan had to settle for a 79, as did Bronte Law, one of Europe’s stars in last year’s Solheim Cup at Gleneagles. Carly Booth, the top Scot last year as she finished in the top 10, had an 82 that contained a triple bogey, double bogey and seven bogeys.

Broch Larsen, a 27-year-old with one LET title to her name, finished birdie-birdie to set the clubhouse target. “I had 26 putts, including a couple of long ones, so that helps a lot,” she said of an effort that left her a shot ahead of compatriot Emily Kristine Pedersen, Munoz, American duo Jennifer Song and Amy Olson, as well as Germany’s Olivia Cowan.

Dryburgh, who sits in a group two behind, had been up at 3.30am for a scheduled 6.30am start only to see that delayed more than once due to the fog before eventually stepping on to the first tee. “It was quite tough actually because we were probably eight minutes away from walking to the tee when it first got delayed and it then just kept being every half an hour,” she said.

After an early bogey, the 27-year-old Aberdonian soon found the form that had earned her back-to-back wins in the Rose Ladies Series in England, as well as a first top-10 finish on the LPGA Tour in the Drive On Championship in Ohio. Five birdies in six holes, including four in a row, set up her promising start on home soil. “It was an early alarm clock, but it was worth getting up for the calmer conditions as I made the most of it,” said Dryburgh. “I played really well and made some really good putts.”

World No 2 Danielle Kang, who is bidding to make it three wins in a row after landing both titles in the LPGA Tour’s double-header in Ohio over the past fortnight, recovered from a sluggish start to sign for a 71, matching Kylie Henry’s morning effort. “I made a couple of sort of frustrating mistakes on two of the par 5s but, on the whole, I played really solid and I am really happy with my game,” said 33-year-old Glaswegian Henry. She enjoyed both the conditions and the course, adding: “It’s a good, strong test.”

After starting bogey-bogey, two-time winner Catriona Matthew avoided more damage with a couple of notable par saves before having to settle for a 74, one less than Kelsey MacDonald as Michele Thomson and Alison Muirhead shot 78 and 81 respectively.

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