Ashleigh Buhai birdied her first hole in the Paris Olympics on Wednesday on her way to an opening four-under-par 68 and second place after the first round of the women’s competition at Le Golf National.
She bogeyed the fourth, but after that she was flawless with two more birdies on each nine as she finished the round three strokes off the pace by home favourite Celine Boutier. Boutier thrilled the home fans with eight birdies and a bogey for her 65, while Buhai was two clear of Gaby Lopez of Mexico, Morgane Metraux of Switzerland, Mariajo Uribe of Colombia, and American Lilia Vu in a share of third on two-under-par.
“Key today was just being very committed over every shot,” said Buhai. “This course is very demanding, and I was just playing smart golf to the spaces and playing away from the pins when it was required. I took my two putts and then when I had wedges in my hand, I was able to be a little more aggressive.
“It was nice to get off to the fast start and settle the nerves when I holed a pretty long putt. I haven’t played the course before and I only was able to play 12 holes of a practice round because my clubs didn’t arrive until yesterday afternoon.
“The crowd was amazing. It’s the most people we have ever played in front of, especially with Celine Boutier out there two groups ahead of me. There were also some South Africans out there with their flags and cheering me on.”
The other South African player, Paula Reto, opened with a disappointing six-over-par 78 to be in a share of 50th in the 60-player field.
“I had two bad holes in my first 10 holes,” said Reto. She, too, birdied the first, but made double-bogey on four and again on 10. “It was just a couple of bad choices off the tee, and then some difficulties in bunkers.”
Unfortunately for Reto, she made a nine on the closing par-five. “I was not sure about the wind and wasn’t sure of how far I had to carry to clear the water, and I hit a couple of balls in the water.
“I want to just give myself some more opportunities tomorrow, and I’m going to have to come with a couple of low ones to get myself back into the tournament.”
