Germany’s Theresa De Bochdanovits fired a four-under 68 to lead the CSK Steel Women’s Open by two strokes over England’s Bel Wardle and Ireland’s Beth Coulter (both 70).
Wales’ Ffion Tynan (71) is a further stroke behind, while nine players finished on even-par at the 11th of 19 events on the LET Access Series (LETAS) calendar.
Windy conditions created a tough test of golf at Himmerland Resort, with only four players finishing under-par.
“Just relieved that it’s over,” De Bochdanovits, 26, said. “I made some stupid mistakes, but I fixed them somehow. I’m just really glad that it worked out that way. Tried to stay calm, not panic with the wind and stay in the moment.
“The easier part was that it was mostly just straight downwind or straight into it. There were just a couple of holes where the wind was strictly from the side, so that made it a little bit easier.
“I just tried sticking to my basics, trying to hold it on line that even with the wind, it wouldn’t move too much to the sides.”
Teeing off from the back nine, the German golfer opened with four pars and bogeyed the par-4 14th before rolling in back-to-back birdies on holes 15 and 16 to make the turn one-under.
“On 14, my iron came out kind of weird,” she said. “Just like the wind pushed it down instead of carrying it over the bunker and then just a long bunker shot. So that was a fine bogey. I wasn’t mad or anything about that.
“On 15, I just made a really long putt and hit a good wedge on 16. And then, somehow, I got to ride the wave and didn’t make any mistakes after that.”
De Bochdanovits heated up on her second nine, birdieing holes 2, 3 and 6 to surge into the solo lead. But it was a remarkable par save on the par-3 7th that kept her in front.
After hitting her tee shot long into the thick rough behind the bunker, she dug herself out of trouble onto the green before holing a 30-footer for par.
“That was crazy,” she said. “That’s what I’ve been saying. Like I somehow started making some putts today and even holed some longer ones. The birdie putt on 15 and then the par putt on seven.
“I was already in the high rough. After the pitch, I was just content with the bogey. I was like, at least I got it out, didn’t hit it into the bunker. So really happy about that par there.”
De Bochdanovits is settling in well in her rookie season, having already recorded a third-place finish at the Swedish Strokeplay Championship in Uppsala.
“My first season, I’m not expecting to get into the top seven (in the Order of Merit),” she said. “That would be crazy. I just want to give it my best and see where it goes and I think that that really helps. Just not putting myself under too much pressure.
“I’m just going to try not really thinking about it. Just trying to start off fresh tomorrow morning and not giving myself any grief if it doesn’t work out or if I make some bogeys.
“There are some birdies out there, but it’s still a lot of room for mistakes. So just trying to keep calm and play my game. I’m just going to try to have some fun, get some experience, learn how it’s out here and see how it goes.
“We are out pretty early tomorrow, I think at 8.10am. So just try to find something to eat, take a shower and just go to bed early and try to get as much rest as possible.”
Hot on her heels is England’s Wardle, who is fresh off playing the AIG Women’s Open last week.
“It’s just very challenging out there,” Wardle said. “So just trying to see if you can sneak a few birdies and if you make a par, great. It was windy as soon as we started.
“It wasn’t as windy at The Open as it is here, but it kind of helped. We’ve had a lot of crosswinds. So that was what it was today as well.
“On my back nine, I got to fourth hole, and it was just like, blowing so much. I was like, right, we need to sort of focus here and see if I can kind of keep the score going.
“It was just kind of make sure you double check before you hit the shot. Like, where’s the wind? Because as soon as you hit the ball, it was like going miles if it was in the wrong direction.”
Starting from the 10th tee, Wardle made the turn one-under after going birdie-bogey-birdie through holes 13 to 15.
She surged to three-under with birdies on holes 1 and 6 but dropped back to two-under with a bogey on the par-3 7th before finishing with two pars.
Coming off her first ever Major start after progressing through two qualifying rounds, Wardle is in red-hot form and chasing her first professional victory.
“I was definitely feeling more confident after the week,” she said. “I had my coach there last week. And you know, we kind of talked and said, look, I’ve definitely got the game to kind of compete with the world’s best.
“I played with last year’s winner (Miyu Yamashita) in the practice round. It was fantastic, I just enjoyed the whole week. I didn’t play too badly, didn’t make the cut, but I had a lot of people come and watch me from my home club. I can’t wait to hopefully play some more majors in the future.”
About navigating the blustery conditions, Wardle added: “I’m used to playing in the wind, so hopefully I can continue it on tomorrow. I feel I need to lie down. It was really tiring pushing the trolley around.
“That was definitely a long walk. So yeah, I’m going to go have a sit down and I might do some putting later, but we’ll see.”
Alongside Wardle at two-under is Coulter, who is playing just her second professional event after winning on her debut at the Women’s Irish Challenge last week.
Coulter mixed four birdies with two bogeys to put herself high up the leaderboard and in with a chance to make history by winning both of her first two pro events.
Wales’ Tynan’s round got off to the best possible start after she holed out from the rough for eagle with her 8-iron at the par-4 1st hole.
For her remaining holes, she mixed three birdies with four bogeys to come in at one-under for the tournament and three strokes behind De Bochdanovits.
Further down the leaderboard, nine players shot even-par 72 to be in a tie for fifth.
They are Spain’s Maria Herraez Galvez, German amateur Lena Geier, England’s Rebecca Earl, Belgium’s Sophie Bert, United Arab Emirates’ Hyeonji Kang, Czechia’s Tereza Zapletal Kozeluhova, Sweden’s Johanna Sjursen, Danish amateur Izabella Friis and French amateur Alice Kong.
There will be a cut to the top 45 professionals and ties after Thursday’s second round.
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