The player from Navarre completed a great first day at Villa Padierna with a round of 67 strokes (-6), only beaten by England’s Cara Gainer, with one stroke less, while Azahara Muñoz and Nuria Iturrioz do not lose sight of the top of the standings (-4).
The Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España has started as it was expected, with the Spanish Armada spurred on by the fact of playing in Spain and forgetting the season has been very long.
Carlota Ciganda has stood out in the group of Spaniards, as she has shown once again that she is not bluffing when she says that she loves playing in her country. This fact motivates her especially, and the best proof of this is the round with which the Navarrese golfer has dispatched the Alferini Golf course at Villa Padierna.
Carlota started the round with five consecutive pars, as if she was analysing her opponent, until she made her first birdie on the 6th hole, followed by another on the 8th hole. However, in the second round she undid all the ground she had covered by making a double bogey on the 10th hole.
That result, far from discouraging her, unleashed a real cyclone that began on the 13th hole and did not end until the 18th hole, with a fantastic sequence of six birdies that resulted in a total of 67 strokes (-6). That´s a card that only England’s Cara Gainer, the first leader of the tournament, was able to beat.
“I think this is a course that requires a lot of patience. It is important to keep calm, so I’m very happy with how I fought in the difficult moments,” summed up Carlota Ciganda.
The fans who gathered at Villa Padiera were also able to enjoy the game of the Swedish Linn Grant and Maja Stark, who shared a match with Carlota Ciganda and are immersed in their own duel to win the Race to Costa del Sol. At the moment, the former has a slight advantage with 68 strokes (-5), one less than her compatriot.
Azahara Muñoz and Nuria Iturrioz do not lose ground
Before Carlota Ciganda closed her great match, Nuria Iturrioz and Azahara Muñoz showed their candidacy for the title with rounds of 69 strokes (-4).
The Mallorcan was not discouraged by a double bogey on the 15th hole, which she defined as “a silly mistake” and which she made up for in the best possible way, with six birdies, for a round in which “lots of things happened, but in which I also had a bit of luck, so I can be happy. I’ve converted quite a few putts and I feel good”.
As for the Malaga-born player, one of the local stars, she was very consistent, with just one bogey and a good run with four birdies in five holes (15, 15, 16 and 17), in addition to the one on hole 4.
That was a result that didn’t surprise her because “I’ve been training quite well. I didn’t know how I was going to find myself but once I started playing, the adrenalin helped a lot. I felt very comfortable on the course and I hit the ball very well, so I couldn’t be happier”.
Amateur confidence
After the three best Spaniards of the day, there are three other golfers at the top of the ranking who never cease to amaze wherever they go, both for their game and for their amateur status.
Cayetana Fernández and Carla Tejedo finished with identical rounds of 70 strokes (-3), and just one stroke behind is Paula Martín, in what is expected to be a beautiful fight for the first edition of the Celia Barquín Award. This is the prize created to remember the late golfer and which will reward the best amateur player of this Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España.
The Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España, as well as closing the Ladies European Tour season and proclaiming the winner of the Race To Costa del Sol for the third consecutive edition, will be the fourth event of this circuit to be played this year in our country with a prize money of 650,000€. In addition, there will also be a bonus of €250,000 for the top three classified in the order of merit of the European Women’s Tour.
The Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España news can be followed on the openfemenino.com website, the Twitter account @Openfemenino, the Instagram account @spanishopen and the Facebook page @openfemenino.
The Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España 2022 will be held at Alferini Golf (Villa Padierna) from 24 to 27 November and is part of the Solheim Cup 2023 programme, an event declared an Event of Exceptional Public Interest (AEIP) and which provides important tax advantages to participating companies.
The Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España, the last event on the Ladies European Tour calendar, is sponsored by Andalucía, Costa del Sol and Acosol as main sponsors, together with Marbella, Benahavís and Reale Seguros. Vithas is the official medical service. Solán de Cabras, Eversheds Sutherland, Mahou and Puerto Banús are official suppliers. Marca and Radio Marca are official media. LET, RFEG, RFGA and Deporte & Business collaborate in the organisation.