Little known Victorian leads NSW Open

BY Liz White | ALPG Tour | 2008 Women's NSW Open | Round One | 25 Jan 2008

Little known Victorian, Torie O’Connor, has surprised the field to take a one shot lead after the first round of the NSW Open held at Oatlands Golf Course today.

O’Connor shot a blistering five under 67 and was still shaking her head in amazement an hour later.

“I can hardly believe it I am in shock,” she said.

Three players, Katherine Hull, Jane Suckling and Germany’s Martina Eberl all trail O’Connor on four under.

The 31-year-old Victorian was something of a revelation today. For the last seven years she has been coaching at the AIS and the Melbourne Golf Academy. Three months ago she decided she would like to give the tour one last tilt.

“I did my traineeship at Huntingdale and I did a little bit of playing, just a mini tour over in the States and then I got a scholarship coach’s job position at the AIS so for the last seven years I have been coaching and then I just sort of decided I’d like to be playing another couple of years, just mix it up a little bit,” she said.

The decision appears to have paid off. Due to the course layout, O’Connor commenced her round on the 12th hole. She started solidly with two birdies but carded an unfortunate bogey on the 17th. Three holes later she hit back with a two birdies in a row and was able to finish with a three on her final hole, the par four eleventh.

“Since I have been back playing I have been thinking about numbers rather than a shot at a time so today I just read my yardage book and on each page I just had “commit to each shot” and I just tried to stick to that and it worked.”

As one of the older and lesser known players out there, O’Connor admitted to feeling a little bit uncomfortable with some of the other competitors.

“I played with Jenny Lee today, she is 18 and she said to me: ‘Do you mind if I ask you how old you are? and I said never mind I’m too old.’”

Another of the tour’s older set also showed the young guns a thing or too.

Defending champion and local, Joanne Mills, carded a solid three under 69.

“I am really ecstatic to shoot a score like that to start with. It is always tough coming back defending champion, it’s your home course everyone expects you to do well, the weight on my shoulders is huge,” she said.

Mills played in the day’s hottest trio. Partners Katherine Hull posted a four under 68 and Britain’s Laura Davies carded a two under 70. It was great to be a part of it, Mills said.

“There was a good reachable par five and I only made a par on that hole compared to the eagles that Laura and Katherine made on that hole. I felt like I had made a triple bogey. I’ve hit a rescue into that hole and Laura has gone driver, wedge,” she laughed.

Despite shooting an eagle on the fourth and finishing at four under, Katherine Hull was left disappointed with her round.

“I would say I scored well. It wasn’t that pretty from tee to green but I’ll take it,” she said.

“Nothing went wrong, it just wasn’t perfect golf and being a perfectionist it is kind of hard to accept the not so perfect shots but I am happy with the score, so I can’t complain.”

Tournament drawcard Davies would certainly be one of those complaining.

After four holes she was two over. She then steadied the ship only to give away a bogey on the last hole of the day. It was just one of those situations where the luck went against the popular Brit.

On her final hole, the par four eleventh, a safe iron off the tee had Davies poised to strike. She then struck her approach beautifully but it unluckily skipped through the green. The ball landed in a grassy gully leaving Davies with a delicate chip to the pin placed just three metres away. Unable to get an up and down, it wasn’t the finish Davies had planned.

Some of the better scores posted today were by Queensland’s Tamara Beckett and Nelson Bay’s Cherie Byrnes who are both tied in 5th spot with Joanne Mills on three under. It was great effort by Byrnes who recently returned from shoulder surgery.

Oatlands’s Jenny Lee, along with fellow amateur, South Australia’s Stephanie Na, both had a good day carding solid rounds of 70. They are tied with Davies, Sweden’s Cecilia Ekelundh and recently turned pro Sarah Oh, at two under.

Other notables to shoot sub-par today included Sarah Kemp, Belinda Kerr and West Australian amateur Kristie Smith, who all shot one under rounds of 71.