There was a strong Indian presence on top of the leader board as one of the pre-tournament favourites Diksha Dagar (67) and a resurgent Vani Kapoor (68), who is playing at her home course, occupied two of the top three places after the first round of the Women’s Indian Open at the DLF Golf and Country Club.
Diksha overcame an early bogey to find six birdies later to be one shot behind the leader, Norwegian Madalene Stavnar (66), who is searching for her maiden win on the Ladies European Tour.
Giving the home fans a lot to cheer, local Vani Kapoor shot 4-under 68.
As Diksha and Vani moved up the leader board towards the end of the day, amateur Vidhatri Urs showed that Indian women could be a force to reckon with as she shot 2-under 70 to be T-6 while another amateur, Avani Prashanth, who finished as the best amateur last year, was T-10 with 1-under 71 despite three bogeys in last eight holes. Avani is the winner of the prestigious Queen Sirikit Cup for amateurs and the Ahlsell Final in Sweden on the LET Access Tour for professionals in August.
Another Indian, Gaurika Bishnoi (72) was T-17 after a round that had three birdies against a bogey and a double bogey. Diksha, who can go to the top of the Race to Costa Del Sol standings with a win this week, said, “It was a slow start (from the tenth tee) for me today because on the 11th hole, I was confused with the club selection. So I wasn’t confident about the tee shot. Never mind; I could have had ups and downs. But it was alright; afterwards, I hit six birdies, and I had a solid round.”
“On the 10th hole (the first of the course), I made a very long birdie putt that was uphill and down in slope. It was a 35-footer. She added, “About my game, all aspects are fairly good, and most importantly, putting was the main thing, and I putted well today.”