Another tough day at San Lameer

Another tough day of weather has seen Friday’s second round of the Cell C South African Women’s Open cancelled and the tournament reduced to 54 holes.

Thursday’s first round had to be suspended for similar conditions, forcing the round to be completed on Friday morning. The second round teed off at 8:30am before winds gusting at 40 kilometres per hour and bouts of rain rendered the course unplayable, and another suspension was called at 11:10am. At 13:00, with conditions not improving, Ladies European Tour Tournament Director Michael Wood made the announcement cancelling the second round.

“We’ve come to the conclusion that the fairest decision for the players is to cancel round two. So all second round scores that were posted have been cancelled. A new second round will commence at 6:15 on Saturday morning, and the tournament has been reduced to 54 holes. We got to a stage where if we were to restart today a number of players wouldn’t start round two in these conditions and would come back and play it afresh in completely different conditions,” Wood said.

England’s Charley Hull took the first round lead with her four-under-par 68 in the worst of the conditions on Friday morning. She is one clear of England’s Rebecca Hudson and Germany’s Steffi Kirchmayr.

“I actually like playing in the wind and rain, but it was a bit extreme out there,” said Hull. “It was blowing a gale out there, but I dug deep and played well.”

Hull went straight from finishing her first round and into her second, and she immediately birdied the first to climb to five under and two clear of the field. She was through six holes when play was suspended.

“I played those six holes in crazy weather, and was pretty happy with one under. Then they called the second round off, which people have mixed ideas about. It’s a shame because I managed to get it to five under for the tournament, but I only miss out on one shot.”

Hull finished second in this event last year, which was played in even worse conditions and which had to be reduced to 18 holes.

“I don’t mind these conditions. I find golf so much more fun when it’s rainy and windy. I love it because I feel like I’m a grinder and can try my hardest and post a good score.”

Melissa Eaton leads the South African challenge with a first round of two-under-par 70, while Lee-Anne Pace signed for a first round of one-under 71.

“I chipped really well and made all the crucial putts,” said Pace. “I hit some good shots out there and am just keeping it low in the wind all the time. I’m hitting my driver very straight and I’m relying on that a lot. You’ve just got to make the best of a bad situation and stay as close as possible to the lead.”

Photo – Melissa Easton; credit Justin Klusener
Written by Michael Vlismas – Michael Vlismas Media