Herbert (nee Aldridge) represented her country 12 times, including the Espirito Santo world amateur teams’ championship.
She mixed three birdies with four bogeys in her 1-over-par 75 to be one stroke ahead of Heather Keefe (Rotorua), with Jenny Peters (Northland) a further shot back and three players carding a 4-over 78 – Jill Morgan (Cambridge), Robyn Pullar (Invercargill) and Diana Syer (Hastings).
The best of the Tairāwhiti players was Poverty Bay’s Megan Allen, who had four birdies in her 81, which had her sitting ninth overall with three-quarters of the field having finished.
Karen Hay (Electrinet Park) shot 86, Rochelle Taewa (Poverty Bay) 88, Jo Kerr (Waikohu) 93, Lynne Holmberg (Poverty Bay) 96, Carnie Nelson (Poverty Bay) 98 and Monique Francois (Poverty Bay) 99.
Organisers said there were only a couple of pullouts due to the weather.