GOOD START
REGINA — Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., fired a 6-under-par 66 on Thursday to sit two shots behind clubhouse co-leaders Mariajo Uribe, Ariya Jutanugarn and Nasa Hataoka at the CP Women’s Open golf tournament.
Henderson three-putted her first hole for a bogey, but got the stroke back on the fourth, kickstarting a run of six birdies over seven holes. She was tied with three-time champ Lydia Ko of New Zealand, Australia’s Minjee Lee and several others with a few groups left on the course.
American Angel Yin (65) was one shot off the lead and Victoria, B.C., amateur Naomi Ko was four strokes off the pace.
Uribe, from Colombia, was in one of the opening groups. She set the early tone at the Wascana Country Club with a course-record 64.
“It’s nice to start with a bogeyfree round to actually see my golf game getting to where I know it is,” Uribe said. “It’s going to be a good week.”
Jutanugarn matched her score about an hour later. The world No. 2 from Thailand opened with four straight birdies and had just one blemish with a bogey on the par-4 16th hole.
“Today my goal was (just) don’t worry about the future too much,” she said. “Don’t think about what I’m going to shoot today. Just try to focus on things I can control.”
Several players went low in the morning as they took advantage of ideal weather conditions. Hataoka, from Japan, and Henderson, from Smiths Falls, Ont., were two of the afternoon standouts.
Preferred lies were in effect on the 6,675-yard course. Greens were playing firm and fast and there was only a light breeze in the heat and sunshine.
Maude-Aimee LeBlanc of Sherbrooke, Que., and Anne-Catherine Tanguay of Quebec City were at 2-under 70. Alena Sharp of Hamilton and amateur Celeste Dao of Notre-Dame-de-l’Ile-Perrot, Que., opened at 71.
There are 16 Canadians in the field. Play will continue through Sunday at the US$2.25-million tournament.
Charles Fitzsimmons of London, Ont., and Todd Fanning of Winnipeg shared the previous course record at Wascana. They posted rounds of 65 at last year’s Canadian men’s mid-amateur championship.