Australia’s Queen Sirikit Cup campaign kicked off in stifling conditions at Singapore’s Laguna National Golf Resort Club on Tuesday and the Australian trio felt the heat as they sit sixth in the team standings.

Karrie Webb Scholarship recipients Kirsten Rudgeley and Caitlin Peirce both shot one-over rounds of 73 to place the Australians at two-over overall - ten shots behind leaders South Korea - while Kelsey Bennett carded five-over.

Rudgeley and Peirce are in a tie for 11th on the individual leaderboard and Bennett is tied 28th with the 33 degree heat and roughly 60% humidity providing stark contrast to the chilly mornings they faced at Sorrento two weeks ago in the Australian Interstate Teams Matches. After her round Rudgeley said it was taking some adjusting.

“It’s just warm and it’s different golf over here,” she said. “It’s just really humid and hot. You’re knackered when you walk off so I’ve never experienced that before. First of many I’m sure.”

The course itself - the Masters Course at Laguna National - is also proving to be a new challenge.

“I don't think there are any golf courses back home that this reminds me of,” Rudgeley said. “The closest you’d probably get is Joondalup back in Perth because of the undulations but the hills are nowhere near as big as Joondalup.

“There’s a bit of water on a few of the holes and little undulations that push you to different parts of the golf course. It was challenging, you have to hit it to the right spots.”

Leaderboard

The Queen Sirikit Cup is an annual amateur team golf championship for women organised by the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation.