Casandra Alexander overcame a double-bogey and two bogeys on Friday to card a four-under-par 69 in the first round of the Ladies European Tour’s Aramco Team Series-London at the Centurion Club in St Albans, Hertfordshire.
She eventually made eight birdies, including three in a row from the 16th to the 18th as she finished the first round of the 54-hole tournament in a share of third. She was just one shot off the lead which was shared by Charley Hull of England and American Nelly Korda at five-under-par. Alexander shared third with Germany’s Leonie Harm. Anne van Dam of the Netherlands, Noora Komulainen of Finland and Spain’s Ana Palaez Trivino were in a share of fifth on three-under.
Alexander started with a birdie on the first, and made her second on the sixth. However, that second gain was sandwiched by a pair of bogeys, but she managed to turn in level-par with a birdie on the ninth. She made her double on the 10th, but picked up birdies on 13 and 14, before going on her run on 16, 17 and 18 on her way home.
Nicole Garcia is the only other South African in the tournament and she opened with a two-under-par 71. She made six birdies and four bogeys and she was alone in eighth after the first round.
