She wasn’t entirely at her best on Wednesday after an arduous return trip to South Africa, but Casandra Alexander got things going more than well enough to card a six-under-par 66 in the first round of the Sunshine Ladies Tour’s Jabra Ladies Classic at Glendower Golf Club.
She made an eagle, six birdies and two bogeys as she tucked herself in at three shots off the lead in fourth place. In front was Spain’s Mireia Prat at nine-under-par after an eagle, eight birdies and a bogey. She was two clear of Dimension Data Ladies Pro-Am winner Moa Folke of Sweden and current Sunshine Ladies Tour Order of Merit leader, Lily May Humphreys of England.
“It was a tough trip back,” said Alexander, who played in Morocco and Saudi Arabia on the Ladies European Tour over the last two weeks. “I got home on Monday, played the pro-am on Tuesday, and was off early today, so I had to kind of play by memory.”
And that was no bad thing for the Royal Johannesburg & Kensington ambassador, as she has many rounds under her belt at Glendower. “I know it like my back yard,” she said. “It’s a course where you have to hit the fairways if you want to score well, and that’s what I did today – except where I made my bogeys.
“It was also playing quite short today, so I was a little surprised the scores weren’t lower, to be honest. But nine-under from Mireia is a good score. She putted very well. That was something I could have used, as I missed an eagle putt.
“But my eagle on 15, after I started my round on the 10th, came after I drove it long, and hit my eight-iron close.”
Back in second, Folke and Humphreys were very impressive in going bogey-free for their 65s on a renowned South African championship layout. There were only two other rounds without bogeys: England’s Lauren Taylor and Sanna Nuutinen of Finland each had three-under 69s, and they were in a share of eighth.
Next best of the South Africans after Alexander was Kaleigh Telfer who was in fifth on five-under-par.
As Alexander regains her equilibrium after the disruption of her travels, it’s a question of trusting her experience on Glendower of the next 18 holes as she attempts to put herself in position to win a second title on the Sunshine Ladies Tour this season after she took the opening event, the SuperSport Ladies Challenge.
“I played nicely the week after the win in Morocco,” said Alexander, “But I wasn’t great off the tee in the second round in Saudi Arabia. Being back at home on familiar territory is helping me fix that, and I’d like to try and position myself to have a run at a second win by the time the final round rolls around.”
