Stacy Lee Bregman opened with a two-under-par 70 on Thursday to take up a share of 18th place after the first round of the Ladies European Tour’s Estrella Damm Ladies Open presented by Catalunya.
Bregman made five birdies, a bogey and a double-bogey in a solid start, and was five shots off the lead which was shared by Spain’s Carlota Ciganda and Jessica Karlsson of Sweden. There seven-under 65s gave them a three-stroke lead over six players, with a further nine on three-under in a share of ninth.
Bregman was in an eight-way share of 18th, together with fellow-South African Casandra Alexander, who had four birdies and two bogeys in her opening round.
Ciganda, from the city of Pamplona, where the Running of The Bulls resumed for the first time since 2019 as part of the San Fermín Festival, coincidentally won this tournament three years ago and the Spaniard will be looking to make a similar charge over the next three days in front of her home gallery.
She birdied her first three holes, the 11th, 12th and 13th, on Thursday morning, before picking up another birdie on the long 16th hole. After carding a pair of bogeys in the middle of her round, she recovered a stroke at the third and then finished with four birdies in her last five holes to lay down the marker.
Karlsson also started from the 11th and quickly eagled the 12th, where she hit her driver from the tee and then used a hybrid to hit her ball to within two metres of the flag before rolling in the putt. The Swede bogeyed the 15th, but then birdied the 18th.
She holed long birdie putts on the second and third holes, from 15 and 20 metres respectively, before picking up further shots at the fourth, sixth and eighth holes.
Lee-Anne Pace and Lejan Lewthwaite opened with two-over-par 74s to be in a share of 65th.
