10 Feb 2022 | Professional golf |
RD1 LIVE: Green on top at #VicOpen
by Golf Australia
Morning groups update:
Hannah Green has shot her way to the top of the leaderboard with a six-under par opening round of 67 on 13th Beach's Creek Course on the first morning of the Vic Open.
The major champion played in front of a strong crowd alongside best friend Su Oh and amateur star Kelsey Bennett and she dismissed any notion of a rusty return to tournament golf with a bogey free round.
She shares the lead with 25-year-old South Korean Gyu Rin Kim who shot the current low round of the day - a 66 on the par-72 Beach Course - that included eight birdies.
James Marchesani and Zach Murray are leading the way on the men's side of the tournament, also at six-under par.
Marchesani admitted he got lucky with two "cheeky chip-ins" on the Beach Course's 10th and 11th holes - both for eagles - which catapulted him up the leaderboard, but he did go bogey free.
On the Creek Course, Murray's round also included two eagles - on the par-5s 7th and 17th - and four birdies ensured that his card was a colourful one.
Start of the day update:
The Vic Open is underway for 2022 in cool, overcast conditions at 13th Beach Golf Links on the Bellarine Peninsula.
Tournament favourites such as Hannah Green, Su Oh, Anthony Quayle and Jed Morgan are all out on the Creek Course as the event resumes after a hiatus in 2021 because of the pandemic.
Morgan, the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship winner last month, made a hot start with three consecutive birdies.
Both the Creek and Beach courses will be used today and tomorrow before the field is trimmed for the weekend and the players move only to the Beach course.
Early starters today will have the benefit of excellent scoring conditions with the winds blowing gently at 15 km/h.
This is the ninth time 13th Beach has hosted the Vic Open.
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