Paula Reto opened her campaign in the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open on Thursday with a two-under-par 70 for a share of 24th after the first round at Dundonald Links in Troon.

Reto opened with a birdie, but bogeyed the next two holes. She righted the ship after that with birdies on eight, 10 and 11, and she didn’t drop another shot as she finished the round hitting 14 of 20 greens in regulation.

At two-under, she was four strokes off the lead which was held by England’s Charlotte Laffar, who made eight birdies and two bogeys on her way to six-under-par 66. She led by one from Ireland’s Leona Maguire, Rio Takeda of Japan, Spaniard Nuria Iturrioz, newly-turned professional Lottie Woad of England, and Thailand’s Arpichaya Yubol.

On a crowded leaderboard, there were 10 players in a share of seventh on four-under-par, including world number one Nelly Korda of the United States, and Minjee Lee of Australia. There were six players on three-under, and Reto joined 18 other players in her share of 24th on two-under-par.

Lee-Anne Pace opened with a two-over 74 for a share of 86th with, amongst others, compatriot Casandra Alexander.

“It was an amazing day,” said Laffar. “I started with a bogey actually, but sometimes it goes that way. You relax into it. I holed some great putts, and I hit my driver the best I’ve hit it for a long time. I really took advantage of that.

“When you roll it in and they’re dropping, you just have to keep going and keep plodding along. I managed to stay in the moment better than I normally do, which is quite nice, and having my husband David on the bag helps. The wind was challenging at times, but I enjoyed the test.

“It’s nice to still see I can still shoot low, even knowing I was going low and kept it going low with a couple of bad shots. Don’t get me wrong, I got a couple of lucky bounces, but you get that in golf. That’s what happens when you’re having a good day.”

Laffar only returned to the Ladies European Tour (LET) in May at the Aramco Korea Championship after taking four years off to have her sons Freddie and Oscar.