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oh it does that’s a great part there from Schmidt well a very good afternoon to you we’re a third away through the ladies European tour season and after a year’s absence we are back in Belgium about 25 km south of Brussels in the picturesque countryside for the very first time at Hulen Court for the Hulen Courtort Women’s Open event 11 of the campaign and after the dramatic elevation changes and sloping greens in Tenneref a contrasting conditions on a golf course known as Lavaon the small valley beautifully cultured on old farmland look at the clubhouse and the surrounding areas there it’s a past 72 today playing just over 6,400 yd and it’s a a rather warm day 25° C going to get even warmer tomorrow there is a bit of a breeze around to test the players i’m Richard Kaufman alongside me is four times Soulheim Cup captain Mickey Walker afternoon Mickey what sort of player do you think this course is going to suit best well I I think a big feature of this golf course is that the greens have very distinctly different areas so somebody who’s very accurate with their irons is going to give themselves chances if you don’t get in the right section of the greens you’re going to struggle with your putting because there are a lot of subtle slopes but um yeah a really good arm player I would say yeah good test very different as you can see from what the players were facing a week ago now into event 11 of the season and thanks to her three wins still at the top of the rankings is Mimi Road her closest challenger Sarah Kuska is playing on the access tour at home this week so Cara Gaina is the highest ranked player in the field she would move top this week with a win six of the top 10 are in action this week including the players at 7 8 9 and 10 so that’s the top of the order of merit what about the top of the Rolex world ranking still there after now 101 weeks it is Nelly Cer after her US Women’s Open win Maya Stark dropped in at number six she has fallen a few spaces but ninth spot she’s still the highest ranked European and Mickey was nice to have another European major winner wasn’t it it certainly was and I think it was such a fantastic performance i mean she’s improved so much since she first turned professional i can remember attending the first event she played at and she’s a completely different golfer now than she was then but a very very mature performance i thought it was we’re a few weeks off from the US Women’s Open another week to the next major in the women’s game let’s catch up though with what’s been going on here today play got underway at 10 8 so the morning wave have completed their first round let’s start with a player who was leading after day one a week ago sophia Kibsk Nielson lovely iron shot there this pin today on the seventh cut in a generous place I would say yeah finished with a round of 70 did the day one shot better is Nastasia Nau sitting in the top 20 of the rankings like kids Nielson she would go on and bogey eight and birdie nine but rolled this one in around a 69 three under par we’re kind of just waiting for Nadau at the age of 20 to get her first win well this is Kylie Henry on the 18th trying to save par and she does that very well well good to see her back playing some good golf yeah round of 69 from the Glaswegian plenty of birdies today on the card Mickey for Kelsey Bennett well and you can see why with shots like that i mean that was just a tap in yeah nine birdies in total from the Aussie rookie who’s 18th on the order throw in a couple of drop shots a double in there as well but it all added up to a very impressive round of 67 lydia Hall who had a birdie finish for her round of 69 couple of French players in there nau we mentioned Camila Valier former Indian Open champion at Gat Suzan going nicely good start for Helen Bream and for the teenage Indian Ay pashant esme Hamilton from Nottingham making a good start she’s looking to make her first cut on tour one of the many rookies in the field scoring I don’t know about you Mickey you know at the moment 71 under good enough to be tied for 10th i was expecting maybe scores to be a little lower having looked around Hulen Court yesterday having been out and watched some of the early play I think the wind is a big factor it’s sort of swirly it It’s making it tricky um these greens as I mentioned earlier I think they’re very tricky you’ve got to be in the right section to give yourself a decent birdie puck and I just think it’s not that easy the players are saying the par threes in particular are tough today and uh I think it’s a big factor well some of these players most of them Anna Zenuso who uh again was going nicely in in Tenneref last week the Italian rookie with a round of 72 arian Clots from the Pacific island of New Calonia round a 73 from her the first Ecuadorian to play on the ED danny Ella Da another with around a 73 and Lauren Walsh got off to a sticky start but managed to hang in there for her one over par day yeah so scoring maybe not as low as we thought but there’s been some good starts from one or two of the players out there this afternoon let’s uh catch up with one of the leading rookies on tour Kaiser Arafel she has a very impressive CV doesn’t she coming from a very sporting family her father was a an ex-professional golfer her brother professional ice hockey player one birdie no drop shots on the car for Brianna Navarosa the American rookie playing with Moa Fulka and Claraara Davidson Spila czech player one of those who teed it up at Aaron Hills a couple of weeks ago for the US Women’s Open navarosa a player you kind of know fairly well Mickey because she was part of the junior Soulheim Cup team for the USA that took on your Junior Europeans yes she was she was one of the quieter Americans um very impressive nonetheless and it’s great to see her doing well and that she wanted to start her career over here in Europe i mean she’s a real benefit to the ladies European tour and it’s great to see her couple of backto-back par fives nine here and then over at 10 nine reachable of sorts 10 certainly is a a three shooter one of the most consistent players on tour over the last couple of years has been Luna Subbron Galves richard I can remember many years you and ago you and I were commentating when she shot a 62 in Abu Dhabi and that was that was a fantastic round of golf she she is a good player and has been for a number of years maybe not the force that she was going back eight years or so playing with Navarosa at this par five ninth is Mo Fulker where you can see by the trees and there are a lot of them around this lovely course it is quite gusty annabelle Fuller young English player who’s had such a good start to her rookie year but struggling four over par at the moment and that one just burning the edge of the hole well I don’t think she realizes uh where ball finished so she’s playing a provisional here oh we saw it bounce didn’t we through the trees hopefully a case of tidying up here for Luna yeah double bogey the second has pulled it back since then with a couple of birdies tidly done i I Luna Sabbron Galves she said everyone just kind of really knows me really as Luna Sabbron sabbron is her dad’s name galves is her mother’s name yeah you talk about her history she was the uh the winner of the Smith Salva top amateur finish at the Women’s Open in Turbury back in 2015 you remember when it really was atrocious weather she finished 13th that year in the Women’s Open claraara has reached her layup no longer the uh the check on her own with the most wins on the ladies European tour she has been caught well and what a good win it was last week the last two weeks I should say for Sarah Kuska and it’s great to see I mean she has a very endearing personality i would say she’s very quietly spoken doesn’t come across with masses of confidence but I would say that her confidence is growing by the minute by the performances that she’s given recently yeah and I’m sure Claraara is amongst those delighted hopefully inspired as well the now 30-year-old check with a husband on the back hence the Davidson spil of a ring to her name married to Sha and he’s an American part-time lecturer part-time caddy you don’t see a lot of husband wife combinations it’s It’s difficult to be around somebody 24 hours a day but this is a a partnership that works very neatly done from Davidson Spila dropped his shot at four pulled that back at six chance to turn in one under which uh is not far off the lead five underpath the round shot today by the Australian rookie Kelsey Bennett kelsey called it a a a plotter course i think it’s a very attractive golf course but I mean here you see you see what can happen if you do get a bit wild on the course i mean the rough is very thick if you go a long way off the fairway well at least you found it so no problems there yes it’s it’s a delightful setting it really is i mean you feel you’re you’re out in nature when you’re on this golf course well the trophy which we’ll get to see is is of an owl because apparently there are 200 species of owls that are dotted around in the in the trees around that was a good contact it’s maybe turned a bit left yeah you the club just turned over getting caught up in that rough and that led to a closed club face and a pulled shot this is over at the 18th for a Gat Soon who’s playing the course the other way round she started at 10 18’s playing tricky today but not for Aat turns in 34 i think the players universally have been talking very highly about the golf course they all enjoy it very much i think they thought that the scoring would be terrific the old one hand off the club try and fool the commentator trick but it didn’t work brianna yeah she actually in that Junior Soulheim Cup she actually beat Mimi Roads in her singles match i I hate to keep bringing these memories up Mickey i mean good memories though aren’t they i I would say it’s one of the highlights of my career captaining the Junior Solheim Cup team we’ve lost it unfortunately i think will she hold the winning putts i mean unfortunately you’re going to have it sort of brought back to your memory all afternoon watching that’s okay that’s okay i’m uh you know the team was so talented but more than that they were a team of really really great personalities they all got on absolutely brilliantly together and we had so much fun it was really a special time for me and for the girls well this is also for birdie at 18 April anger 25 kilometers from the capital city of Brussels very close to Waterloo new tournament on the uh schedule nice to have Mickey you you’ve been in Belgium many times playing on the ladies European tour yes we used to have um a tournament in Belgium in the early days of the tour it was one the tour was primarily in uh in the UK but uh yes very happy memories of uh coming to play in Belgium nice yeah beautiful really good well she might get away with a par in the end here mo FA This is the uh group of Spitz Alan Bream and Cara Gainer bream was two under just dropped a shot at the seventh hole gainer and Spitz both won over one of the several players here this week who had a good tournament last week tied third in Tenneref but that’s a bit of a misread well she struggled on the greens i think it’s fair to say in Tenneref she was bamboozled at times she wasn’t alone in that but that was a poor effort she’s just had a couple of bogeies either side of a birdie coming to this hole finished third in the end her um her final round she hit 18 greens in regulation in Tenneref and she had 36 putts one one putt and one three putt and if she’d have had a good putting round she could very well have won but she’s playing some fantastic golf this year so I think it’s not going to be that long before she gets in the winner circle on the tour for the first time good effort from Helen Bream should remain at one under spok for her birdie at nine well she calls herself a great putter and you can see why you asked at the start of the program Richard what sort of golfer I thought would do well and I said a good arm player i mean Claraara is a very steady golfer i think she’s just the sort of player who could do very well here from Claraara to Carana good opportunity to get herself back to level par yeah beautiful really nice from the player who’s third on the Ladies European Tour rankings third birdie of the round just a double bogey at the fifth really spoiling things navarosa we saw that shot to the green early opportunity gone missing but it’s a lengthy effort isn’t it for par Spitz got her boyfriend on the bag there you can see Gerald Meltzer who’s a ATP tennis player stepping in this week ben Kane is on daddy daycare duties back in the UK my usual caddy and unfortunately it’s more of the same after what we saw at times last week so frustrating isn’t it well it is but I mean any golfer will know that the times when all parts of your game are firing a few and far between and quite clearly Emma Spitz has been playing great golf te to green but just struggling on the to read the parts to hit them where she wants to well it’s uh not been serene progress down the par five night but it does result in a par for Moa Fala so par for Helen Broom she may be out of profit from the two par fives that are coming up next at Hulkor great to be back in Belgium a new tournament on a site of historic significance as well and it’s Kelsey Bennett who leads the way with that nine birdies in a round of 67 says she loves it when the LD comes to a new course this year because as a rookie they’re all new courses to her she feels like she gets herself on a level playing field having no one seen the course before you can see some players going well addison Hinsson Tolard just off the back of her first top 10 on the ladies European tour last week going well again and there’s Helen Bream and some of the players we’ve already been uh feasting our eyes on so far this afternoon in that group at one under Karan Neoya another of the talented young German players out in the course in the field this week 72 from her that was a sweet sound wasn’t it plenty of firepower but just pulling it a little bit left into that bunker missing the country’s number one goal for this week madden Doy she’s playing on the LPGA tour this week in the run-up to next week’s major won her third le title earlier this season and only three Belgians have won on the le madam was the first in a quarter of a century you do have five Belgians teeing it up this week amateurs cara and it’s great to see her having such a good year and winning her first event on the ladies European tour she’s been knocking on the door for a long time and you feel she’s moved up a gear with her game this year okay sitting up okay in the uh in the rough it’s par five plays just slightly uphill 7 yds up the hill under 500 yen next to tea off you can see the tea markers are in the shape of owls you see that apparently if you walk around this golf course at 11:00 at night it’s like you’re being watched cuz you are by a lot of owls i must say I was out watching Helen Bream hit some shots earlier and uh she is very impressive how she strikes it she really is par five ninth with Emma Spitz frustration on the last with that three put just slightly pull but that’s not a problem there be lying Okay five top 10s this season already for MS Bits south African player Moodley what a good part that was yeah nice uh first birdie of the day for Cailloui so she gets back to level par yeah a lot of new faces as always on the edit she’s one of them and here’s another of the rookies who’s had some good success already well you could you could hear the amount of sand she took on that shot too much sand it didn’t have the right contact at all you can see uh s there just before the uh clubhouse old farmhouse there was a bit better but struggling struggling to uh get the distance on those bunker shots i think Luna’s in there as well isn’t she luna Sabra hopefully third time lucky for that trio it’s a lovely uh piece of property isn’t it at uh Bulen Court so it is Luna from the sand it’s a slightly easier bunker shot slightly closer and a slightly better result yeah I have a feeling if you offered them another go they’d all take one yes definitely the newly married Lara Funuk yeah there was a a bit of a wedding that went on uh just a few days ago between uh Lara Funuk and Rosie Davis two of the players on tour so this is a honeymoon of sorts as you can see that’s what Laura was tweeting they uh it it was not just a wedding it was a three-day festival almost bonanza they didn’t hold back at one point they joked apparently whether they should just come here on Wednesday rather than Monday they’re a little bit fatigued it’s funny um we’re doing some filming on the course yesterday and uh twice we had to ask Laura if she would mind waiting whilst we did some filming and she was absolutely charming and quite clearly still in full happy happiness mode the honeymoon period kaiser half of fell that left for par on the ninth so struggling now even to make bogey Annabelle Fuller made such a good start to the year but not a good start to this week’s William Court women’s open when the the men came here for the challenge tour now known as the hotel planner tour Alexander Canappa 41 20 under poor par was his winning score the defending champion of sorts Patricia Schmidt yeah it’s different golf course obviously but the last winner when the tournament was played in Belgium hand me the par 3 11th the first par three on the back nine nice birdie by Lauria there we are if you didn’t know there was a birdie you do now okay at least it’s a six in the end yeah new nine chance to take a fresh golf ball out and start a fresh it’s been a rough ride so far for Annabelle Footer over that front nine is there an an easier part of the golf course is you know is there I mean back to back fives you would think nine and 10 maybe a chance to make some score yes talking to the players and going around the course they seem to think that the back n was harder than the front nine um I suppose to some extent it depends on the wind but uh I think there’s tricky holes on both lines but certainly the par fives I would say are opportunities i think the par threes are tough on this course and a lot depends of course on where the pins are but certainly the par fives are birdie opportunities for most of the players certainly the longer hitter hitting players it’s an historic site during the uh the battle of the British cavalry actually assembled in the courtyard here at Bulen Court before going on to defeat Napoleon and his Wow that was a bit of a sound wasn’t it from Emma Spitz she’s a superb ball striker she really is and there’s a bit of anger anger there after what happened on the previous hole lovely beauty that’s beautifully done by Fala we saw Helen Bream’s drive just catching the semi rough but it’s lying okay more evidence of the power that she has the only player we’ve seen so far going for this green in two with an iron you get her it really does make a different sound when you’re out watching her hit balls playing that was a fabulous shot just running to the back edge of the green but that’s good yeah she was very proud of her performance last week run her up in turn on a course that she didn’t feel particularly suited her whereas she’d say this week’s course very much more course that would suit her grain she had hardly took out driver last week more for off the tea there nope not this time for Spielver but she’s one of those who’s made a steady start get everything under par and you are going along nicely anthony Pashant here going along well as well you can see that flag flapping in the breeze she’s uh giving her putts a chance but they’re just not going in yet yeah Waterloo itself is about 10 km away 210th anniversary of the battle is next Wednesday yeah a lot of history in and around these fields that’s a poor 30 attempt from Mo Fala back to the power five night everyone in good position here you can see the couple of balls there at the front from Carana and Emma Spitz emma walking all the way back to the pin trying to get a feel for the distance she’s got to hit it where ex exactly she wants to land her ball to get it to finish up by the pin yeah originally Emma wasn’t going to play this week and then decided to enter which is why her usual Caddy Ben hadn’t sorted things out in advance in terms of child care which is why she has the boyfriend on the back you see a little bit of uh tape there on Cara Gainer’s wrist she’s had a bit of a wrist injury right wrist flares up now and again it did so in South Africa earlier this year just something she has to manage ice in the evenings got that out this week canning for her that’s another thing that can work or we we do see some long-term um dads out cadding for their children don’t we well Helen’s dad is very much he says he’s uh sometimes coach sometimes dad sometimes caddy spoke of her for her part now has Emma learned from car’s shot coming from a similar position more directly up the green well I would say they wouldn’t be entirely happy with either of those shots 185 yds this par 311 take seven off that playing down the hill it’s interesting to see how this course plays the rest of the week whether it firms up you saw that took a bit of a bounce didn’t it from Navarosa yes it’s very much downwind that T-shot and there are some positions depending on the breeze that are near impossible to go directly at it’s an eagle putt for Hela Bream even though it is off the green well that takes her immediately within two shots of the lead eagle three for Helen Bream out in 33 and lurking already deserved hug from that eh well you do feel with her power she can absolutely make mince meat of these par fives as she’s just showed there so big advantage for a big hitter up to the par three with Davidson Spieler well that is a superb T-OT coming in with a little wood there had just the perfect flight very real birdie chance there for Claraara yeah you talk about Bream in the the par five she probably will be able to reach 10 as well maybe not all the players can she’s laid those fires on the front nine in three under she’s three under for the tournament playing partners both putting for birdie this is for a fourth birdie of this front nine for carena and a triple bogey six at the par three fifth which really has damaged her card but uh she’s still under par heading to the back nine that’s good after that triple bogey i mean that really is a killer isn’t it but obviously not for car she’s responded brilliantly three birdies since then here’s another talented teenager in the Helen Breen category anne Pashant haven’t yet seen her really contend yet this season but I’m sure it will come now has she been able to wipe the images of her three putt on the last green out of her mind this is a very different putt hardly any break in it at all pretty much straight yeah well done very well done by Emma Spitz wipe that three part out of her mind and a good finish to the front line well we’re seeing why these three players are all ranked inside the top 10 of the Ladies European Tour Order of Merit now here’s the first player from Hong Kong to secure her full ladies European tour card Jinny Ding race that one that was a bit of an explosion the putter in her hand was on the course watching yesterday and uh she was quite impressive in practice yeah she’s quite a big hitter as well Jinny Ding but there you go Kelsey Bennett out on top the Australian with nine birdies in his 67 but Helen Bream’s name is lurking already runner up last week in Tenneref and tied for second already never been an Argentinian winner on tour ella Anakona with a round of 71 today oh that’s difficult isn’t it we saw Navarosa’s T-shot downwind landing on a firm green then coming back directly into the wind it’s difficult to make yourself hit it will the breeze be helping here yes slightly helping yeah we talked about how she can get that driver out open up the shoulders and give it a bang there’s a wonderful freedom to her golf swing that she just rips through the ball i mean it’s it’s lovely and it makes you know when you hear some golfers strike the ball it makes a different sound well when you watch and hear Breen strike a ball it’s a different sound she really compresses it yeah I think she was a little worried that might catch the bunker down the left hand side but it’s uh comfortably cleared it there it is you can see it in your picture there 267 to get past dog leg right to left and it plays up the hill good shot by Gainer early days just day one it uh literally has Helen Bream within her sight so four shots worse off than the German player in her group despite having a a birdie there at nine emma Spitz she’s obviously very slightly built but she generates a lot of club head speed too so she gets a ball out there a fair distance well the uh the motto at this Huland Court Golf Club is near Hill Melius Quan Vita which I’m told it means nothing is better than a good life you could have a rather nice life just troing around this golf course day after day certainly in the sunshine moa Fala she’s been struggling a bit on the recent holes that we’ve seen her play but better putt there yeah Liz Jung gets herself back to level part yeah got off to a tough start you can see she was three over through half a dozen holes so credit to Liz getting it back to level part well we saw the T-shot which was excellent she’ll be annoyed with herself just leaving that one short nothing worse when you’ve got a birdie putt and you leave it dead in but a few inches short it’s an opportunity missed there’s another of the talented youngsters out on tour blanca Fernandez gets it back to one over she has had a a real roller coaster ride so far birdied the first and then followed that with four straight bogeies she’s now had three birdies on the path five since then from one span to another been struggling here at 10 so this is for part uh I hope he’s fine but it wasn’t a bad T-shot really was it bounce firmly through the green chipped to here and it all means a bogey four to go back to level par for Navarosa what a putt that was that was the longest putt we’ve seen hold so far today brilliantly done yeah Kaiser if you remember last week she was the one who had problems with her trolley and ended up having to push it up the 13th which was one of the steepest par fours and again kind of unraveled in the second round after that happened not really that surprising more trouble for Annabelle Fuller unfortunately and another drop shot another of your Jun Junior Soheim Cup stars yes there are four of them playing this week and Annabelle of course she got off to that brilliant start didn’t she when she won that massive check um $270,000 worth i mean that would set you up for the year for sure and and I remember watching that on television and uh you know she made that fantastic put on the last hole which made a significant difference to the amount that she won no she’s a a talented player like all of these young players who come out here and and it’s about learning because it’s very different when you’re doing it for a living and when the people around you they’re all of a very high standard there’s a look at what the players are facing only the very longest hitters can reach this in two here we saw Mo Faer get I think to the bunker in two nicely positioned for the pitch in for her third well that’s what the players can see that’s a good view which shows not very much in terms of the green anyway but that gives you a good idea of of exactly where the pin is today 14 back just seven in from the left so car will probably be aiming at that smaller tree to the right at the pin that you can see in the distance and the greens in general are pretty big aren’t they not that they look it from when you’re down on the fairway reasonably big and and funnily enough they’re bigger on the back nine than they are on the front line not a long way short two good hits by Cara Gainer we know that uh this young woman can reach the green quite comfortably as she did on the ninth little wood in her hands ooh that was a little bit unlucky just catching that bunker if it had been left of that that would have been very close that’s not going to be easy she’s not going to have a lot of green to work with coming out of that bunker there’s our first look at the pictures for 12th hole three separate legs on this hole that was coming from the ideal angle and I mentioned three legs on that hole they have a lot of fun there’s a lot of wildlife around this course but I mentioned the owls there’s a few ducks and all sorts of wildlife yeah perfectly positioned T-shot from Spiel just a wedge in here which for her strength of her game and it’s a it’s a friendly pin position today anywhere left on that green it slopes down towards that lake but you you know there’s no risk of uh ending up there unless you hit a terrible shot today the pin cut on the right hand side it’s a short par four and all three players coming from an ideal position ideal angle to attack this pin well lovely shot best iron shot we’ve seen today from M Fal that’s a nice uh nice motor to watch the golf yeah you enjoy yourself show off hey yeah it’s certainly a day to have a one of those cars without the roof high 20s the temperature i thought you meant the cars from the twins high 20s could have been Austin Healey apparently anyway I can tell you this is definitely a third at the par 513 from Patricia Schmidt third in for the Austrian spits here at 10 and in for an eagle three wonderful well we’ve said about her putting issues well that’s one way of solving them do you know what as she played that shot I was just thinking that is fabulous technique it was so simple absolutely beautiful and it got its just reward and as you say you know maybe she’s we’ve seen her struggle on the greens recently but look at this absolutely beautiful then and it hits the flag and then drops down a little bit of luck needed but richly deserved it catches the bottom of the flag yeah then you could see Helen Bream there up by the green just about to applaud Emma with for that and that’s fabulous that can turn your game completely around well she’s got her what tennis boyfriend on the back that’s like serving three aces for the match isn’t it really match that car again she’s a bit closer it’s not quite so easy no she was a bit sloppy through impact the club turned over very contrasting impact that was to the one we just saw Emma Spitz make yeah we should point out Emma Spitz has gone to one under par now she’s had two bo birdies three bogeies in an eagle in the last six holes no pars eagle at the last for Helen Bream now her third at this five not enough sound there was that the No exactly i mean she won’t be happy with that at all it was a fairly straightforward bunker shot where you could see how much Claraara gave that putt aimed a long way right and quite clearly it didn’t turn that much it’ll be interesting to see how the the the balance of the scores go this morning compared to this afternoon at the moment some of you know some of the players we’re seeing out there helen Breams three under Madison Hinsson tool chance just got to three under par at the turn as well because when the players out went out this morning it was windy and cooler as well so the ball wasn’t flying through the air it’s a lot warmer now temperatures around 25° and it seems to me like the winds calmed a little as well look at the flag there it’s not really and the trees behind not buffeting about as much as we saw earlier today no I would say the conditions have changed slightly i think maybe the greens have firmed up a bit as they do through the day and that doesn’t always make things easier it usually makes them harder um it’s interesting Richard i mean I we were expecting the scores to be fantastic i don’t think this is an easy golf course as I say the wind has been swirling it’s a course that was founded in the late 1980s so Bream and Caragana here both punting for Birdie adam Bream will have a good look at this one well that gave you a great view of how much break she allowed and I don’t think she hit it very well it bounced as it came off the putter face but quite clearly she allowed too much break yeah not sure Helen Breen’s going to have too much off that first another chip and a putt that Brianna Navarosa fails to convert so backto- back bogeies from one under to one over for the American rookie now you can see Helen is aiming much more directly at the hole maybe just a little bit to from the left i don’t know if um she learned anything or she would read it that way anyway i mean that was a a decent effort but it’s only going to be just a par for the big hitting 19year-old yeah she’s seventh on the order of merit now and there is a a little sideeshow going on this weekend next because seven players from the rankings will get into the Evian Championship so for Helen Bream if she stays where she is on the rankings she’ll be playing her first major next month emma Spitz at number nine in the rankings would get in as well here’s another of the big hitters on tour amelia Garvey currently at Level Park couple of bogeies couple of birdies from the New Zealander be interested to see actually who hits it further her or Helen Bream i think Bream might just get it past it that’s uh been a little hard work hasn’t it after being in good position for two yeah so she’s done well to get it uh back to under par and that was a very good pass save noria’s wonderful chance for another birdie so she gets a couple under yeah we saw you Nura she’s such a great personality isn’t she she’s always bubbly always ready to smile and and that’s even the case last week when she opened up with an 81 in Tennere starting much nicer now two under pass she’s inside that top 10 and on the first page of our leaderboard esme Hamilton from Nottingham in England going along nicely madison Hinsson Tolart who is actually at college with a certain Maya Stark maybe a bit of inspiration for her there two shots off the lead and it does work like that doesn’t it Mickey you know you see one of your I mean she was only with Maya for one year maya was senior when she was a freshman but you know you see someone that you’ve played with and know pretty well win a major that’s got to boost it no surprise she finishedes top 10 last week and there she is tied second right now now in Tojard well I I think you know there’s a well-known golf book golf is a game of confidence and um you know that is very very true when it comes to golf but as you say you do it’s almost by osmosis if you’re around good players if you’re playing alongside them and on occasions you beat them you think well I’ve beaten her i know I’m as good as her on any given day but uh you know it really gives you a boost 19 players currently under par maria Parah a player who was as a amateur real star won as uh on the Axis series as an amateur got her LPGA tour card has just stumbled in recent years level par for her today par there for Patricia Schmidt currently couple over just the one birdie for the Germans so far today the winner of the last time the ladies European tour was in Belgium it was known as the Belgium ladies open then this is the hulen court or hulen core as they say around these part women’s open path 311 therma spits off the back of that wonderful eagle thought she thought she might hole out again there for a moment it was had the same look about it didn’t it it just missed the hole yeah she likes that no putter needed business you can see all farmland around this used to be farmland itself the clubhouse is an old farmhouse it doesn’t look like an old farmhouse now does it it’s absolutely beautiful the clubhouse it’s going a bit right she’s trying to get it to come back to the left well that wasn’t a bad shot for if it was one of her bad shots she wasn’t happy with it but absolutely spot on for distance and it will be another birdie chance it’s a lovely picture postcard setting isn’t it this is Claraara Davidson Spila this is at the par five 13th yeah four check winners now on tour claraara was the first of them jana Makova who who won’t be defending next week unfortunately she’s had an injury and has spent much of the last nine months out and it’s a real shame for Jana as she was trying to get back in time for her defense oh that’s looking good for Carana lovely shot really lovely the best we’ve seen here on the 11th we had four holes in one last week on the ladies European tour well that doubled the number for the season that was incredible wasn’t it especially on that course where you you had all those humps bumps and hollows and twists and turns it was incredible so it’s a teenage German Helen Broom and Madison Hinson Tolar the Australian rookie who are both within a couple of Kelsey Bennett’s lead there’s the uh range which is very close to where our commentary position is at the moment not too busy down there at the moment lovely facilities here for the players you really do feel you’re back in nature when you come to this golf course it’s uh it’s really lovely and if you’re a tree lover well like the owls are um you know it’s it’s just lovely it’s beautiful and it’s lovely the way the course is presented the rough is really thick if you’re wild but you do have to be wild it’s quite away from the fairway you can see it there the lovely grass with a nice sort of pink top very very attractive yeah they got this course in tip-top shape they closed it the last couple of weeks so there was no traffic on it and they enlisted the help of Alejandro Reyes and Carlos Ariel supervisors of the 2018 Rider Cup at Golf Nia and the supervisor at Royal Golf D Salam to get this course into the shape it has been so no expense has been spared and I know all the players from the Ladies European tour very much appreciate that speaking to some of the players this morning as they finished their rounds i was asking how they found the course and they were full of praise for it and one of them said to me which I thought was was testament to how well it’s presented she said whatever the green staff are doing keep doing it because the course is beautiful um the greens sort of average speed about 10.6 on the stint meter so running at a nice pace yeah it would have been nice in a perfect world if Manando Roy could have been here this week we understand why she’s not you know she’s got herself onto the LPG tour this season and had a and playing decently as well major coming up next week too wasn’t necessarily the perfect timing in terms of when the event was on the calendar for her you could have seen her doing well around here as well yes very much so that was a really good putt beautiful pace just missing on the right side a Brashant just dropped a shot at eight just to get it back at nine turn a couple under i had a nice little chat with her yesterday she talked about this she’s had a couple of years now shoulder problem that she’s had and sometimes it just affects her swing she learned to deal with it on a day she is capable of shooting some really no numbers only 18 still from Bengalura in India good view of this puck for Emma from the back of the 11th and you can see that shot off to the right that’s a pretty decent putt well well read good pace just leaving a tap in for her par back to Jinny Ding ding-dong in for birdie there’s that grass that I was saying is so attractive to look at maybe not if you’re in it trying to play out of it no I bet there’s a few of amateurs who have hacked around in that for couple of hours well it was a wonderful T-shot from Cara deserves a two don’t always get what you deserve but hopefully Cara can pick up the birdie here yeah that’s four birdies in six holes since her triple bogey that’s a an impressive comeback from what would have been a real B body blow early on yes and obviously you want to do that but you’ve got to have the mentality to do it and uh probably one of the reasons why she’s in the position she’s in and she’s having the season that she’s having that she does have that mental fortitude and she’s got the confidence and the belief now that she’s got over the line with her first le win and the way she’s been performing this season now I’d already given Helen Bream this putt i think quite rightly Mickey yeah she was doing what you need to do and giving it her full attention even though it was only a tap in she remains three under which at the moment is good enough for a share of second place mom and sister are coming out tomorrow little sister Amelia has been playing an amateur event in Bavaria only 14 very good play herself apparently oh birdie looks to come here in the Navarosa group fala first to go for her four not quite right with either the read or the length on that one having a good season though up to 10th in the order of merit well here’s the player third in the rankings could go to number one if she was to pick up a second winner of the season this week just a little wood that’s what most players will be hitting off this uh 12th T it’s not a long hole just 363 yds downhill slightly downhill very picturesque with the water yeah so there’s three lakes isn’t there the one on the right hand side is the is the one really to avoid off the tea yes and and the players taking a club that’s they can avoid that but not reach the other leg there’s 261 down to that one down the left side beautifully dumped from Emma Spitzer what sort of club would Helen Breen hit here just a hybrid by the looks of it a little rescue club probably about the equivalent of a six or a five iron there’s just a lovely naturalness to her swing which is so appealing that’s not a problem she’s just in the semi- rough but where the pin is today is quite a good angle actually to attack the pin from well Helen Brew amongst the contenders here early on on day one of this Hulen court women’s open great to have the ladies European tour back in Belgium couple of Aussies going well madison Hinsson Tolard another of the chasers after Kelsey Bennett’s round of 67 the young engine player her third shot at the 10th the par five wow that was a misjudgment it was the wrong club now we saw M fulka putt up to here oh that’s a that’s a bit sloppy by the Swedish player that’s a real mental error as well a player from Hong Kong Jenny Ding on the 10th her third shot you can see that most of the players Jenny Ding’s quite a long hitter able to get just on the close to the front edge in two on that 10th hole but there’s a brilliant view looking back at the players on the 12th there’s a look at where uh the flag is on today as you said Nikki it’s a it’s a kind pin position yes it’s when it’s over on the left side that uh the danger arises because the left side of the green slopes off into that green side lake if you’re too greedy yeah just four steps actually from the edge of the green to the water itself with this absolutely the ideal position to attack that right hand pin you can see that’s a ball of Emma Spitz in front of her hoping for a little better carena after that rather clumsy pitch by the Indian player Croissant oh she’s got chance to save power but it’s hard work at 12 with this trio all under par emma Spitz that wonderful hole out of Eagle at the par 510th going from over to under par she’s got that club in her hand again know what it did last time lightning very rarely strikes twice well that was beautiful again I that’s a great image of people to have when you’re playing a pitching shot short iron lovely rhythm perfect angles well you mentioned the mess she made of the first shift good up and down with the second this slightly on the down slope for Helen Bream but beautifully controlled do you know what that wasn’t easy at all and she may well I hope she thinks I’m not going to take that club tomorrow because she wasn’t that far from going in that lake i mean that would have been unforgivable but she made something that was really difficult look totally easy and it wasn’t that was strength and ability and getting your technique absolutely right when it comes to strength and ability she certainly has both of those in abundance helen Bream expectations so high i mean she just burst onto the scene last year she won five professional tournaments last year in just 15 starts one in three it’s a ridiculous amount yet to win this year and well she’s only 19 and she’s really a rookie is s really i know she doesn’t count as a rookie on the L but she is in all but name yes i mean I think she’s you know there’s so many adjectives overused but she is a precocious talent she really is dean rolling one in yeah she’s uh had a good couple of holes there played those very nicely that should be backto- back birdies for the player from Hong Kong that’ll take her a couple under birdie looks all round here at 12 as well i think you know Richard what you were saying about Helen Breen the expectations are so high but I think her expectations are so high because of how she’s performed so far i mean she’s got nothing but success in her memory bank so why should she think any differently yeah people saying yeah she’s had a bit of a quiet year she finished second last week that was her third top five of the season she’s seventh on the order of merit she’s not been a pro a year yet it’s it’s an incredible start to her professional career to car a while to get that breakthrough win which came in wonderful fashion what a shot she hit out of the bunker at 18 to get a playoff and then come through with another brilliant approach at the same hole at Royal Golf Dar Salam well you could see that one was left immediately not only is it left but like so many shots that go left it’s it’s run on considerably well there’s me Hamilton burned two of her first three holes she’s parted away since then this is at the par five ninth player we’ve not really seen much of 25year-old from Nottingham just her fifth event on tour that was a little bit weak by Helen Bream it looked like it was struggling to get to the hole it just wasn’t hit firmly enough she’ll be frustrated with that miss well she’s got a par five coming next we know what she’s done on the uh previous ones on the front nine she’s giving herself the foundation already here she acts as if her her expectations are so high that anything less than perfect and she’s disgusted i mean that second shot was one of the best shots we’ve seen today yes she didn’t convert it but not many players were capable of hitting that shot well Emma Spitz’s birdie put still to come gain is further away for par than the Austrian is for birdie oh she knew it didn’t it had a a little bit of break from left to right and she didn’t give it enough she knew it as soon as she hit it and she’ll be furiously furious inwardly about that making a four a five dropping a shot from being in position A off the T so back to one under par now for car gainer and hoping to move the other way emma Spits three at 10 three at 11 and this for another three at 12 that was an awkward putt left to right breaking putts are never easy for a righthander they’re the ones that you don’t want just slightly hit too hard on that line the chip was hit a little too hard as well from Hamilton here at nine but it’s still a birdie look well two players very frustrated at how what they they’ve left the that green all three of all three of them actually say two fours and a five between them for another birdie another one that’s in that ever increasing group that’s tied for second six players at three under park three of them out on the course in the clubhouse kylie Henry good to see the Gladwegian back shooting some good numbers nastasia Nado who’s another young talagious 20-year-old from France and Lydia Hall who I had a nice chat with after her round today saying how she has her mind on Royal Pole a club where she grew up as a junior and desperate to play the AIG Women’s Open there and feels like she’s playing some of the best golf in her career right now lydia there you see her in a shar second yes that’s uh some season she’s having really as you say she has won once before hasn’t she 2012 but I mean the fact that the Open is at Raw fourth call which is a place where she goes still and practices but grew up as a teenager playing i mean what an incentive that is yes that would be her ambition her goal this year is to qualify for that and and be there playing a course that she loves and knows and grew up playing genie ding for another oh that’s so frustrating isn’t it we’ve done so many things right but just not executed the putt just a five for me Hamilton one of those who’s just trying to start establishing herself on the le there’s a nice look at what these players face over at 13 so you can see those bunkers down the left hand side that left one 250 to reach that to be to the right of that obviously oh that’s going left well the good news is that she’s far enough back and she’s in a flat part of the bunker that she can easily hit a long shot from that line just grab the right edge oh good bream off the tea at 13 also doesn’t look too happy with it but it’s on the short grass heat heat car is another one that’s got actually a history at Raw fourth court because she went to university down the road from there so knows that course very well too maybe not quite as well as Lydia Hall it’s a beautiful afternoon in the Belgian countryside day one of this good court women’s open bunching up behind Kelsey Bennett at three under part anthony Pashant you can see there through the turn a couple two of the teenagers in that top 10 with Helen Brie sophia Kibs Gorn Nielson seems to be starting every week that’s three times in the last four weeks she’s been in the top 10 after day one he’s been watching a little bit of Clara Davidson spila today and Amelia Garvey all at one under darcy Harry another one who would love to be at the AIG Women’s Open given that it is in a homeland of Wales dixagger another of the players in the top 10 of the ranking 72 from Dickshshire today finished nicely and a couple of late birdies level P won’t do you any harm not after day one well one or two big numbers out there though uh this morning three rounds in the 80s remember the cut line will be the top 60 in ties so as it stands we’re looking at something around the uh 23 over par 132 players in the field there’s Cassandra Alexander who came back last week after a knee issue and we thought when she withdrew after three rounds last week that maybe there was a problem with her knee the good news was it wasn’t her knee it was some stomach issues and she’s recovered from that couple over today there is the defending champion bottom of that page Patricia Schmidt three over parabic someone I know you spoke to yesterday three over from her today round of 75 just got off to a tough start yeah she was out she qualified to play in the US Open and and just missed out she was three over par the cup there was one overpar she had a a double bogey on the last hole but um took last week off after going to America and uh you know was in good spirits when I spoke to her and a lovely birdie at the uh car 311 from Avenue Brashant wonderful T-shot got its reward up we go to 15 claraara Davidson Spila to the bunker there’s several bunkers up there on the 15th easy to find one of them yeah 15’s going to be an interesting hole this week certainly you can I mean Helen Bream even today depends on where the wind’s coming from she might be even able to get close to that with her T-shot at 15 just about 300 yd that hole it’s whether or not you’re going to risk it because there are it’s some of the it’s one of the greens where the the long grass you could find it if you missed the green and got an awkward kick um is she going to risk that or play it conventionally i wouldn’t know if she was going to give dad some nuts there or not but we never got to see i’m sure she did nice layup from Gainer plays uphill 522 yds they another hole where they could move the tea up we were talking about 15 they’re going to move the tea up one of the days on the weekend same here at 13 not what she was looking for good contact she’s advanced it a fair distance but uh she’ll be frustrated that she’s not in the fairway well this week we’re in Belgium for the Oolenor Women’s Open last week the ladies European tour was in the Canary Islands for the Tenneref Women’s Open let’s take a look back at how it developed at Abama Golf hello have they been kind she’s looking good as you said the difference really for her is if she can just find those putts she didn’t the first two days well done that’s what you got to do take advantage of the par fives around a Bama Resort should be a formality for Kuska double breaker should come back now oh it has back to back birdies dance this one around the pin take it long spin it back it comes down to this back to back sarah Kuska has done it again hard work over the closing stretch relief and joy for the check yeah and this week she’s going to be playing the uh the Czech challenge before heading to the Czech Ladies Open the week after the uh the Czech Challenge on the Access series so it’s great really that she’s playing there this week we’d love to have had her here in Belgium but uh she’ll certainly elevate the Axis Series event this week and she’s going to be hard to beat for the Axis Series players just to remind you the ex series the second tier of ladies European golf yes and and from one uh Czech player to another we just saw Claraara Spilivera play a lovely shot there giving herself a real birdie opportunity on this hole yeah it wasn’t the best of layups from Emma Spitz that bunker really brought into play by the pin position made that much harder because she’s coming from the rough but she likes it difficult to get it to any spin on the ball coming out of the rough and slightly with the wind helping as well different story they had a bree could get this one to dance around the flag still a little lock but bloody look coming up i’m sure she’s uh she doesn’t always look very happy but I’m sure sometimes she is internally i think she just gives a kind of like a laidback lace fair attitude i don’t I mean you speak to her she’s very ambitious you know she talks about Sohim Cup playing in the majors world number one all those ambitions that you’d expect of such a talent but just gives a very sort of carefree attitude look to I’m sure as you say inside yes there’ll be lots of different emotions I’m sure going on now coming from the best position of the all of this group a little bit clumsy really you would have expected her to get it closer from there let’s catch up again with Ay Brashant wow fabulous shot by the young Indian player three under par and there’s three planes in a row i mean they do have provide a lot of entertainment uh uleno I don’t know if this is part of the official entertainment I mean they have all sorts of concerts here stings performed here amongst them they have uh all these uh they have their own orchestra the lectures by people like Fris Meteron’s been here spoken surprised they haven’t asked Mickey Walker to give a little speech as well you could tell him about Belgian’s only Belheim Cup player couldn’t you well I’m sure the golf afficionados who are listening oh that she knew she wasn’t happy with it but uh as I say the the people who follow golf very closely will remember a long long time ago in fact it was the first time that Europe won the Soulheim Cup in 1990 a young Belgian player called Florence Descamp played for Europe hugely talented golfer and what was she like i would say she was a bit precocious a huge talent she knew she was talented um part of a winning team part of the winning team and I think she retired from golf she married a a diamond merchant and uh has gone off to have a family and enjoy life away from golf there’s not been a Belgium Soheim Cup player since there’s been a couple of Ryder Cup players nicholas Kouls Thomas Peters jenny Ding chipping up river at 12 so they’re in three playing with Pashant who has that birdie chance to come i think Anthony Pashant is three scoring generally here but I think Pashant will have a birdie there to get within one of the lead she’s currently three under Oh if it’s enough well done it’s the cosmopolitan nature of the edit isn’t it we’re watching Caragana of England Gini Dingo of Hong Kong Anthony Pashant of India all in a row there i think it’s fantastic i mean I obviously of an age where I was a member of the the Ladies European tour when it started it wasn’t called that it was under a different name but um to see the growth in women’s golf both in Europe and globally is it’s an absolute pleasure there is so much talent from so many different countries and it’s wonderful to watch and it’s wonderful to see these players come through and whatever somebody achieves somebody comes along and does something even bigger and better well done playing super she was going well last week and then she had an eight last week in the second round at the 13 she told me what happened cuz we didn’t see it she was on the green in two putted into the bunker come back to that in a moment first let’s just see Emma Spitz tidy up yeah she puted into the bunker and went into her playing partner’s footprints who’d come out of that bunker she couldn’t get it out and it fell back into her footprints and she ended up taking a quadruple bogey eight finished 20th in the end last week putted off the green for the first time in her life she said I was going to say I have putted off the green once playing at Ry which people will know if they’ve played at Ry the greens can be lightning fast and I puted off the green into a bunker there but it’s very very rare i’ve done it once in my career take us through this 14th hole Mickey yes here we have a look at the the 14th one of the longer par fours 410 yds lake on the left hand side it’s all about getting getting the ball in position off the tea the pin today 16 yds back just six from the left well that’s a super two shot by Helen yeah that water down that left side very much in play but no worries for Adam Breen oh that was living dangerously but it’s good now it’s a bit closer to the water than you wanted to do that’s why she’s smiling i think she’s a great ball striker Emma Spitz ever since I’ve uh the first time I saw her I thought what a talent she is and um yet to get her first victory on the le but I’m sure it can’t be far away well not the way she’s playing this year i mean there’s no guarantee and so close last year in Germany as well carana was an example of someone who just thought was waiting to win then went quiet and then this year come out and won in Morocco the La Mariam cup all good well maybe we’re seeing a a contender to catch the lead and Kelsey Bennett Ane Brashant six birdies in her opening 12 holes has taken the Teenage Indian within one of the lead hannah Bream and Muria Turio’s also going well out on the course bennett still on top but her lead has been cut to one nine birdies from Bennett today six from a Brashant camil Shiovalier winner of the Indian Open few years back now former rookie of the year pashant playing with Jinny Ding who’s also going along nicely ma Diw around a 72 from a the Moroccan who is uh going to be playing at the Fian Championship for the very first time in a few weeks thanks to her finish at the Jabra Ladies Open yeah something we a lot the players are talking about this week the qualification for Evian being in that those seven places at the uh end of next week’s Czech Ladies Open okay I know okay cool cool car 41 16th Clara Davidson Spil of I’m not sure she thought she was going to clear that bunker putting for par here against Sison had par all over it didn’t it really it just shows you if you could select one shot that you could do well it would be to putt it rescues a lot of other things that you’re not maybe not so happy with down as a par here’s a player who’s really has struggled at the start of 2025 against so unlike car who’s had a win a second and a third place finish already this campaign through just 10 events so struggling to get the club out of the bag there she was willing that to hold on she knew she pulled it of course that slope on the edge of the green throwing her ball even further away and now she’s got no green to work with very frustrated with that one spits next to strike well this is the hole she went left off the tea and it ended up okay she went left with that shot and it’s just clung on to the edge of the green so can she capitalize on that there’s a good look at the depth of this green as well 40 yards deep 40 kind of runs from back to front another good iron shot by the tall German teenager yeah last season albeit she didn’t play that many events she had the best scoring average on the Ladies European tour just over 69 this season it’s just over 70 so playing on average just about a shot more per round than she was last year finished 27th on the order of merit but that was only from four counting didn’t that didn’t count the runner up she had as an amateur in Sweden and it’s wonderful to be hool for the first time we’re just south of Brussels about 25 km away here’s a player who’s been going along nicely today out in 33 for Madison Hinsson Tolard that was to try and get one of the shots he dropped on the back n back she’s got a boyfriend on the bag he’s come out he wasn’t there last week in Tenneref he’s come out for the next few weeks can be can be get a little lonely can’t it sometimes Alan so when you you know especially from a long way away from home like Australia nice to have your boyfriend come out and spend a little bit of few weeks with you very much so i mean the good thing is that the likelihood is that there are some other Australian players on tour that she’s friendly with and knows but it is a pretty friendly place but it can be a very lonely place it’s one of the features of this golf course isn’t it the the runoff areas like the one you can see here left of 14 the vast majority of the greens have those runoff areas and if you miss the green it throws your ball further away we got another one another hole out this time it’s Caragana’s turn well that was the most unlikely of birdies that really was that was so tricky she had no green to work with she actually hit it it was going to go well past oh it was traveling Mickey that’s for sure that saved her a couple of shots I think yeah definitely that’s really a bonus when that happens look at this he was traveling at speed dead center brilliant sixth birdie of the day for car gainer this is some round she’s putting together when you think she had a triple bogey on the front line she three putted at 12 as well for a fairly careless bogey emma Spitz we’ve seen have a hold out as well she hit it oh it just didn’t turn enough decent effort one shot off the lead ane Prashad car 513 again a big hitter our first look at Huden Court on the ladies European tour and it’s taking head and bream liking this to get within one again she’s got it brashant at four under and now Helen Bream as well you weren’t sure it was going to get there but it just managed to this is a tricky little putt there’s a little bit of break in it above the hole well I think Emma saw some break there and actually it was dead straight But again it’s you know it’s much a a mind game is it about technique isn’t it with the putter at the moment for Emma i mean the first one was a it was a good putt wasn’t it i mean just like you’d like it to be but it’s it’s then the fragility of that one coming back and understandably eventually it gets to you well she’s done very little wrong from T Green she really hasn’t it’s just so frustration playing with Anthony Pashant jenny Ding both of the these players very impressive with how they’re getting on this is looking for a first birdie of the bat n or you say only an outside chance from this level and there’s work to be done to come away with the four at 16 if I was asked to describe Claraara’s golf game I would say very steady and very measured but it hasn’t been today she’s made a few mistakes on and around the greens which I think is very unlike her so this trio now I’ve reached the 15th nice little bonus birdie at the last for car gainer yeah so this is the hole where they will push the tea up one of the days over the weekend 304 yards as it stands i I think when they if they push the pin up as they’re saying they might I think it’s going to be very tricky because if you carry those bunkers you’re going to be hitting a long club and you could end up in all sorts of problems i don’t know if it’s worth the risk maybe for somebody like Helen Bream who won’t be hitting a driver possibly but uh the other players I would say that uh you might get a better score if you lay up and then you’ve got a little pitch in you can see Helen Bream just an iron off this tea not happy with it it’s going off to the right found one of the trio bunkers go willing it on wasn’t she there Jilly Ding but it will guarantee the birdie she’ll get to three under that’s nicely done right by the red marker which I can tell you is 80 yards to the front of the green well Emma Spitz Caragana and Helen Bream all going very nicely as far as the uh ladies European tour rankings are concerned remember this is event 11 of the season and it’s the penultimate event for the big chase for the seven places that up for grabs from the order of merit remember this is for those who have yet to qualify for next month’s major from this first page you can see the asterisk by them shannon Tan and Kiara Tambellini they’re in already that means as it stands it would go down as far as the player in ninth position on the rankings which at the moment is Emma Spitz from the players that are positioned 11th to 20th Manand Roy who of course is Belgium’s top player and Gino Titan are also guaranteed to be at the Mundy Evian Championship the cutoff date is June the 24th so that’s after next week’s Czech Ladies Open worth noting as well Maha Adiwi has also qualified for Evian after finishing third at the Jabra Ladies Open we thought the winner went through but as it happens they go from the order of merit first so Shannon Tan as well is another player who finished below Adi at the Jabra but she’d already qualified from last year’s order of merit well that’s another birdie so she’s tied at the top brilliant golf by the young Indian player yeah I felt she played really well last week there’s a confidence about her coming here and she is showing it seven birdies from Ay Brashant and it’s good enough to take her alongside Kelsey Bennett at the top of the leaderboard three birdies in a row four in her last five holes so Kelsey Bennett has Ellen Bream remember is only a shot behind and maybe another sign that conditions this afternoon are a little bit easier than maybe for the players who went out first in this morning i don’t think there’s much in it i think it’s um down to the talent of the players sure it was a little cooler this morning as well when the play you know it’s 25° now it was about 14 15° yes i I think I personally think it’s much of a muchness i I you know I think there’s still a breeze up the course may be drying out a little bit with the warmth and the wind i just think it’s um some outstanding golf by some outstanding young players yeah fair enough emma Spitz I’m sure really aware as well you know what we’re just talking about that she’s in that final spot right now as far as playing for Evie and for these players it’s a big deal i mean Emma has played a major she played the AIG Women’s Open yes as a European especially you want to play in the European major and there are two of them the AIG Women’s British Open and the Evian Championship and you know Nastasia Nadau at the moment tied for fourth she’s in that top 20 of the rankings she lives an hour and a half in the in that region the Savoir region of France i mean it really would be a big deal for her in particular so this is what they got left here at 15 yes this is the uh the short path four pin position today 21 on just seven from the left difficult to make yourself hit it hard enough to get to that back pin heat heat good shot by Carana she’s had an up and down round today hasn’t she she’s had everything yeah thankfully more ups than downs helen Bream awkward shot here coming from that bunker it’s placed uh about 30 yards from the green and she has flown it you can see it’s quite strongly downwind that shot that she had contact just a bit too good out of the bunker there is some really long grass along that green and see exactly where that finished yeah some really well placed bunkers here there’s a couple in the middle of the fairways as well we see one coming up at 18 i think there’s one at 16 as well isn’t there yes they’re very strategically placed as you say well we’ve seen a bit of Mau Fulka early in her round and she was is very much up and down but she’s level part she’s got this pump to go to one under Heat heat excellent park by Navarosa wow there’s some of that thick rough that Richard was talking about she can barely see her ball it’s sitting down in that looks like clover she really had to dig that one out she didn’t take a maybe a big enough back swing for the shot that was facing her danger of dropping a shot here on the shortest par four on the course yeah mistake off the tea from Helen Bream could prove to be costly for her play partners have both got birdie putts here hasn’t lost the turn got it man it’s a good try but it’s going to be a drop shot up at 14 miss Fairway for co-leader Ay Brashant i think the birdie run’s going to stop there three in a row that was a better cut wasn’t it no stress about the par on that pole back with Claraara Spila she like Emma Spitz remains at level par but a golden opportunity here for Carana to get a little closer to the top six birdies already on the card it’s one of those courses we’re seeing already plenty of birdies but plenty of holes that can trip you up as well make that seven birdies for the day there’s much to be admired about the way she’s played this round of golf she’s had her problems triple bogeies a horrible score to have she’s fought back and done very well yeah so Fala remains at level par which at the moment is good enough to be just outside the the top 20 couple of rookies at the top of the leaderboard one from Australia and one from India kelsey Bennett and Anne Prashant on the course of five under pashant still with some holes to play to complete round one of this Huland Court Women’s Open so up to three under now carainer which is good enough to be within two of the lead well that’s a missed fairway that’s going to make it very awkward for car again here on the 16th and today at the front just 5 yds in from the right so last thing you want to be coming from is the right hand rough look at it that little bunker isn’t there Mickey in the middle of the fairway and there is that That’s in the player’s mind and that’s possibly why Car let it leak a bit to the right of course she didn’t do that intentionally that bunker 220 yds to reach it well struck that’s not in any danger that’s a lovely T-shot by Emma Spitz so it’s 236 par so Helen Breen could just blast it over I suppose yes so I don’t think it’s uh it’s not a problem is it for her still going up when it goes over the bunker when she hits her drive that’s miles down there and another hole with a bunker in the middle of the fairway she’s really struggled today hasn’t she unusually so uh she didn’t like that at all it was sort of a bit of a weak strike out of the heel of the club there’s only been one rookie who has won on the Ladies European tour this season albeit she’s won three tournaments in Mimi Roads actually looking to make it five in the last six seasons where the rookie has actually won the ladies European tour rankings but today so far we got two rookies at the top of the leaderboard here in Kelsey Bennett and Ay Pashant at this court women’s open another rookie there in Jinny Ding in that share of third place it’s amazing Mickey isn’t it how many rookies in the last half a dozen years have gone on to win the rankings because it never really happened did it over the the previous sort of 25 years no I think it’s testament to the number of players who are now coming into professional golf and the standard that their golf is when they turn professional i mean they they might be rookies by definition but they’re not rookies in terms of the amount of golf they play probably a lot of them on occasions have played in professional tournaments and they come out here and they’re ready to win and they’re not scared of winning or the people they play with i used to be in awe of the players that I when I turned professional oh that was unlucky by Anoria Attoria she’s having a good round yeah for the last shot of the day though to happen it’s going to be around a 70 from the player from Morca but a a good start remember she got off to a horrible round last week in Tenneref so that’s a nice way to start the day long birdie putt here for Ay Pash this is for a fourth birdie in a row mind go on that was a monster putt it was a very long punch he had there and just didn’t give it enough that’s for par for Patricia Schmidt patricia finishing with around 76 it’s a disappointing day from her so the defending champion is sort struggling her goal tomorrow morning when she comes back out will be to try and make the cut and that’s a drop shot for Pashant that’s a nice little bit of hovering isn’t it that’s not real is it took us a second to realize that Richard yeah stay away from my field basically what that says there’s been a few players who’ve had it on a string today three needed hit the tree while that goes on Anna Spitz is going to play her second doesn’t like it don’t know why if you could hit your shots to the green that close on every one of them I think you’d be quite happy she’s happy now yeah go for it yeah gerald Meltzer there who’s on the bag her boyfriend who’s a tennis player plays doubles mainly nowadays pashant for the bogey well that wasn’t just a tap in was it so she’s back to four under just a short iron for a big hitting German not very happy with it well not sure what ruling car again he was looking for but ball was where she left you can see there’s a little twink close by it doesn’t look like it’s growing does it and it looks as if she did move it it might just move the ball so she’s not going to risk it thank you that was well played by her almost hand came off the club to protect herself and that was good from where she was let’s hope it hasn’t uh jarred her wrist it doesn’t look to have done herself any injury well she had company for a little while didn’t she kelsey Bennett and Anthony Pashant getting herself to five under par the Indians just slip back to minus 4 which means Kelsey is still ahead after her round of 67 and after that she spoke with Edgar Morse very well played out there a round of five under you’re the early leader what’s your reaction oh yeah pretty happy with it and can’t complain when um you hold a few so it’s good yeah real runner birdies on the way in three on the way home to take the lead this is a course is pretty scorable if you’re hitting in the right position yeah most definitely we um my caddy and I uh really spoke through a lot of shots today um it’s definitely a plotter’s course it doesn’t seem like it but we had to yeah think a few shots through today and it and it pulled off um hold a fair few parts so that always helps just expand on that what do you mean it’s a place where you got to hit the ball the right position off the tea you mean or on your approaches more um bit of both really um yeah just especially with that wind it it got up a bit so just making sure you judge the right distance and there’s a fair few runoffs on the sides of the green so missing on the right side is important you’ve had a really good season so far you’ve done well on different golf courses in different places as well what do you put that down to uh I’m not sure really it’s just golf i mean it comes and goes so I I do benefit from having a caddy um so the weeks that I’ve done a bit better I’ve had a caddy so um hopefully that can continue i guess what I mean is there isn’t a particular type of course that you look at and you think I’m going to do well here you’re sort of arriving at course with different grass and different you know different style of golf course and it doesn’t seem to to phase you what What do you put that down to um I’m not sure i mean I’ve just I’ve just played like so many golf courses so honestly it just depends what sets up to your eye some courses you look at it and you play the practice rounds and you just think “Oh my god I don’t know how I’m going to get this around here.” But um yeah this course and the practice rounds and um the other courses I’ve done well I’ve I’ve just thought yeah this suits my game really well so you just got to take that positive thinking and roll with it well certainly working for you so far well done thank you cheers yeah we talk about the number of different federations and the good work they do golf Australia do an excellent job as well for someone like Kelsey coming over to Europe she does have family friends to stay within the UK but there’s actually a house in Richmond where they can go and stay use the facilities lovely little area part of South London that’s fantastic isn’t it yeah it’s open to all the Australian golfers male female we just saw Helen Bream there pop down not quite dead and this is another Australian going well madison Hinsson Tolsh that was a birdie over at 15 so she’s back to two under she’s just given away a couple of shots the Australian rookie after that punch shot from base of the tree oh good effort by Gainer she’s going to stay at three under by the way Kelsey Bennett 26 putts that will help shoot around a 67 massive difference well that was a lovely shot wasn’t it she struggled today claris Spiler this is Emma Spitz she’s struggled on the greens hasn’t she unfortunately yeah she won’t have 26 putts today maybe on the first 14 holes 15th hole just a layup here the short par four for Prashant so second now in up the hill i don’t think the strike on that was very good alan Green trying to save par nicely done well she’s very much putting herself in the picture again Helenbury after her runner-up finish last week behind Sarah Kuskova in Tenneref there she is in that fairly large share of third place kelsey Bennett back in front on her own one ahead of Ay Brashant Bream and Gain are playing together jinny Ding and Ay Pashant playing together as well so the players who are going best of our afternoon wave three 69s earlier this morning one came from Lydia i say earier this morning lydia finished just after 2:00 just coming up to 6:00 local time jimmy Ding coming from a good position on the 15th short path forward just over three we’ve seen a number of shots coming into this green now and you can see it’s very much downwind for the players with their second and also green maybe not that receptive as it’s drying out lovely second super three first birdie of the bat nine comes at 18 for Claraara Spila and it means a round of 71 for the check play yeah we saw it got to celebrate your wins that was a hard fought round wasn’t it they had a little celebration going there her and Sean been working on that par 17th there’s a look at the hole of course the feature is that big bunker where the pin is today 29 yds back that big bunker it really bites into the left hand side of the green so you got to factor that in with your club selection you’ve got to carry that bunker the pin very much at the back of the green today oh that’s a lovely shot by Carana absolutely judged to perfection distance-wise we were saying at the start Mickey how tricky these par threes are she knocked it into what 6 ft at 11 she’s knocked it into something very similar there at 17 that’s a sign of a player who’s really on top of her ball striking with her eyes very much so and I said earlier in the week I think the par threes are going to play a key part in who comes out victorious at the end of this week let’s bear in mind on the front line she had a triple bogey six one of them but but she’s making amends very much and just look at that bunker it’s it’s a lovely design this players can’t see the bottom of the pin at all from where they are there’s just a slight raise up to the green it’s not a long club it’s not a long hole that’s a good iron shot by Emma Spitz if she could just get a putter going there’s lots lots to be impressed with today but it’s her putting that’s cost her and she’s as frustrated as her fans are well see what the bree machine’s got cooked up for us here very high be a club short yeah she’s three under at the moment and you almost feel that’s the worst she could have scored today with the quality of the shots that she’s hit one back now after the drop at the last this is a birdie putt another long one though actually won on the Access Series did Anne Bashant first Indian to win on the Access Series tour good effort first player from Hong Kong to play on the European tour she looks to be a very strong prospect yeah well she’s going nicely tied for third and three under as well this week giny Ding all these three players going along nicely as well golf course which has a lot of history behind it it’s uh opened back in the 1980s family chairman and owner Frederick SV very famous industrial dynasty he comes from the SV family kelsey Bennett sat on top all afternoon she was in fact in uh one of the first groups out this morning was Kelsey getting close to home now this trio and they’ve put on a good show for us see that in out we’ve seen quite a few players struggle to get the pace of these greens yeah they’re running about what 10 and a half on the stiff yes it’s 10.6 I think they were measured at which is a nice sort of medium pace of greens well we’ve seen plenty of birdies out there i mean Ellen Bream has had four birdies in an eagle seven birdies for carain unfortunately Emma Spitz hasn’t really been able to hold anything really of too much note on that wonderful third at the par five was online i think that’s one of the most frustrating things that you can do as a golfer leave it dead online and short what do you think Mickey you’ve had a good look now at the course yesterday yourself and now you’ve been watching the players the last few hours out here what What sort of score do you think could potentially win this this week well I think you could go on the scoring today if the conditions stay something like this if you take five over around that’s 20 over i don’t think it’ll be that big under I’m assuming you mean yeah yeah yes sorry 20 under but I don’t think it’ll be anything like that interesting 20 under actually won it when they had the challenge tour event here a few years ago oh birdie number eight yeah probably thinks I make that 12 under that sort of score i think what we’re seeing there are lots of birdie opportunities but it’s it’s trying to get the consistency there’s a few holes that are very tricky nicely done from Madison Hinson tool so he remains two under bream looking to stay at three under so one hole left to play for this trio bream going along very nic he has his car again emma Spitz is also having a solid enough day so they head off to the 18th and that’s one of the holes that Mickey Walker had a closer look at earlier this week the final hole here at Holland Court is 386 yds par4 it’s also got the biggest green of all the greens on the course 43 yards deep so getting your clubbing right is absolutely critical there’s a slope at the front of the green you’ve got to make sure you’ve got enough club to get beyond that there’s a runoff to the left of the green and then to the right there’s a bunker awaiting a wayward shot even if you’re on the green if you’re at the front and the pins at the back you’re going to have a very long putt and that’s not going to be easy to two putt especially if you’re trying to win your first championship so the players are back on the tea there’s been a few birdies here today but there’s been a couple of sixes as well plenty of drop shots too avoiding that bunker is the first part excellent T-shot by Caragana i think she’s been really impressive today the way that she’s come back from adversity she’s made a mistake but she’s countered that almost immediately it’s very friendly you almost feel with Emma and Helen that they I mean obviously there’s the 18th to go but that they couldn’t have scored any worse than they have today hit so many great shots helen as has Emma really it’s just been Emma’s putting Look at that drive that is miles down there yeah it’s a long way past playing partners like that’s sitting down a little bit doesn’t it yes i can’t imagine there’s any other divots up there not many players would have hit into that region at 16 now with ANE Prashant superb well if she could roll that in she’ll get back up aside Kelsey Bennett at the top of the leaderboard the Australian with a round of 67 must do Kylie Henry good to see her up there again lydia Hall round of 69s from them helen Bream and Cara Gainer getting close to hope and a close to the top yeah Nuria’s part of the afternoon starters played uh very nicely another good opening day for Sophia Kibscore Nielson the Dane one of those with a round of 70 and Leon Harm you saw there at two under par i won’t have time to get through it now but that is some story had a long chat with her yesterday and hopefully through the course of this week we’ll be able to tell that story but a player very much on the comeback trail oh I’ve teased you a little bit basically she just cut the long story short she decided she was going to stop playing at the end of last season and there was a few twists and turns that changed her mind and she’s back out here finished fourth in the Axis series last week and uh off to a good start this week player whose career you could easily write a book about incredible she was the German one the women’s amateur wasn’t she she was and uh I’ve seen her play quite a bit very strong player indeed and a very um clever you know achieved an awful lot in her career away from golf yeah which is why there were alternatives for her to to to walk away and she really was set on that but she’s been out in Saudi Arabia and uh working with a British coach out there and got a bit of love back for the game and playing very nicely so far i mentioned the women’s amateur because of course it is the women’s amateur this week at Ned so good luck to all the players who are in the the match play side of things right now lorna Mccclimant made the final last year she’s level pass she’s out on the course now as well the Scott who had a hole in one in the top 10 last week so everyone in nice position here at 18 you see that from a few players they put a a line around the middle of their ball and they position that on the line they want to hit their putts on the green there lovely iron shot by Emma to finish with be nice if she could end her round with a birdie and a good putt she’s really struggled on the greens today all three of these players have had some real bright moments some bright spots heading back towards the clubhouse and the courtyard here at Hulen there’s a look at the green 43 yds as you mentioned in your piece how big a putting surface this is 43 yds deep for today just 18 of those paces on well that’s two super hits helen Bream’s got a bit to work to live up to isn’t she although she’s coming in from about 40 yards closer oh did it Jenny Ding we saw the iron shot into here this for Birdie oh another one of those putts remember Pashant’s got a chance to come at that hole to tie the lead well she’s had a couple of sighters helen Breen from her playing partners did she take the nearest pin i think just about i think she’s got the easier part from that side slightly uphill as opposed to downhill well I think she deserves to be more than three under with the quality of golf that she’s played this afternoon and there’s somebody else who’s had a lot of top quality golf that was a for a birdie to get her back to five under par but it’s just going to be a pass so she stays one shot behind the leader yeah and we’re seeing from the leaders there are lots of birdies out there nine today from Kelsey Bennett seven on the car for Ay Pashant carain has had seven as well at three under which shows they are making mistakes too yes and I do think it’s the nature of this course i mean I’d be interested if if anybody can go around without at least a bogey or a couple of bogeies on their card i mean seven birdies in a round that’s a lot of birdies nine birdies that’s even more i mean that’s incredible golf well I’m having a scour of the leaderboard and there isn’t a single player who has gone bogey free today no and I that doesn’t surprise me just because of the subtleties and the difficulties that there are on some of the holes out here well we got three very good looks at Birdie to come here at 18 helen Bream with one of them which would take her alongside Pashant in a share of second place and Ditto for car gainer who is on the second page of that mini leaderboard there she is couple of holes left to play two underplaying with Pashant it’s just a super setting look at that you can see the uh the old farmhouse look to the exterior at least of those buildings inside polished and beautifully done you get up close to the structure of these buildings it’s really wonderful it’s it’s got some brilliant stonework and then some some more modern bricks and and it blends seamlessly i mean I think architecturally it’s really lovely yeah it’s hard to believe you got the courtyard there which is where the recorders area is and it’s hard to believe that was actually where some of the British cavalry camped overnight ahead of the battle of Waterloo soldiers had to camp out outside in the courtyard the uh the major general of course got to sleep in the farmhouse an awful lot of history in Belgium European history so Caragana for birdie number eight of this opening round agonizingly close good day’s work though 69 especially when you consider she had that triple bogey early on looking for win number two of the season a win that would take her to the top of the Ladies European Tour rankings i think she’ll have mixed uh feelings about her round car again there’s so much that was good about it just that major hiccup really with that triple bogey on the front line now Spitz could do with a little bit of confidence with this club to head into Friday it’s just not happening is it well that kind of summed up the day didn’t it really the highlight was that hole out at 10 for an eagle three it’s uh a level par of 72 so very much with a platform to strike tomorrow but she needs some confidence with that flat stick another could have been day for the Austrian whereas for hella brie looks like another day that’s going to deliver well done a round of 68 the second best of the day for the teenage German and in position to strike yes i mean that was almost effortless wasn’t it i mean she swings the club so beautifully i mean you you feel if thing she had a really good day she could just blow this course apart with her power that was almost the worst score that she could have had so impressive a very entertaining three ball i mean you had everything you had hole outs you had spectacular shots really good golf really entertaining golf just in your right hand corner i mean I’ve been doing my studying Mickey i can tell you it was the uh the Sixth British Light Cavalry Brigade that spent the night there in June 1815 it’s good when you come away and you learn you get a bit of a history lesson are you someone that knows if the word Waterloo is mentioned to you do you think ABBA or the battle actually think of both everyone’s now got that sun buzzing around their head we were talking about Leoni harm um there’s chance here to get to three under park so basically she said after the Indian Open she was finished she’d lost her way the last few years couldn’t get a game back and she was caddying for Mamoka Kabori in Saudi just to end the year do something oh so close to getting to three under and basically the head coach at Riad Golf Club Scott Edwards was speaking to her and said “Can I have a look at your swing then can I you know let me have a look?” And she thought “Why not?” You know I’m quitting anyway nothing to lose and he said “I I think I can help you.” And he has basically and here she is still playing it’s amazing how a chance meeting like that can totally change your perspective and make you believe big hard bounce you could hear that never mind see it it’s almost like it landed on concrete yes i think certain sections of the greens are probably more susceptible to drying out than others and of course it’s Stan Wind again well it’s been a very entertaining opening day at the Hooland Women’s Open just south of Brussels and seen a good mixed bag haven’t we the Pashant not yet done for the day but at the moment alongside her fellow teenager in Helen Bream on the mark of four under part one behind the longtime leader from Australia Kelsey Bennett who posted a round of 67 another good opening day from Sophia Kib Nielson just hoping won’t she Mickey that she can find some positives over the weekend and carry on the good work she’s obviously capable of in the early days of these events yes and we’ve seen so much good golf from her recently playing some of the best golf and there’s a a few players who come into that category madison Hinsson Tolshard who had her best finish of the season last week Ditto Lorna McLimman and they’re doing well again and it just shows you how confidence breeds confidence lia Garvey had her first top 10 last week as well she’s one of those in with around a 71 we saw a little bit of Luna Sabbron earlier this afternoon she also posted around a 71 and another of the rookies having a good year the Welsh woman Darcy Harry also around in one underpass shannon Town seems to be up there every week emma Spitz as we’ve been seeing level par today so 67 looks like it’s going to be the low score of the day i mean I think we thought someone might go lower than that but it’s a question of trying to eliminate those mistakes because birdies are out there yes it’s not often that you have seven birdies in a round or nine birdies but if you do you would expect to shoot better than 67 um and we know it’s possible because of the number of of birdies and the way the players at the top have played and somebody will do it though somebody will have a clean card and not have any any um thing above par so I think um you know I think it’ll happen yeah the cut line comes tomorrow top 60 in time so as you can see as it stands that would make it about four overpart weather set fair tomorrow Mick it could be a bit of a steamer as well very hot it pleasant today mid20s very nice yeah hopefully no thunderstorms and sometimes comb with those temperatures well it’s a new tournament on a side of historic significance as we’ve been saying great to be back in Belgium on the Ladies European Tour for this Hoolen Court Women’s Open picture setting and the players have delivered on day one kelsey Bennett posting the round of the day day one of four plenty of golf still to come we’ll catch you again tomorrow bye-bye heat heat
