Dottie Ardina carded a two-over par 74 with a borrowed set of clubs in her debut in a pro tournament as she gained a share of 36th place, 10 strokes off Norway’s Suzann Pettersen at the start of the SAS Masters Friday at the Losby Golf Club in Oslo, Norway.
A double bogey on the par-4 No. 15 ruined Ardina’s bid to at least turn in an even-par round on her first stint on a European course with only nine of 130 starters breaking par and 11 others matching par at the par-72 layout.
Still, it was an inspiring start for the 13-year-old jungolfer mixing it up for the first time with some of the top players in Europe, the 54-hole event being a leg of the Ladies European Tour, considering that she had to use a borrowed set of clubs on a course she hardly had a chance to practice on.
Ardina, spearhead of the ICTSI golf squad back home and one of the eight amateurs to be invited to the tournament, lost her Ping set of clubs at the Heathrow Airport in London on her way to Oslo, forcing the event organizers to lend her a Taylor Made set.
“With her talent and skills, I don’t think a new set would matter. She’s so focused and excited on her first stint in a pro tournament,” said Cassius Casas, one of the coaches of the ICTSI golf stable.
After a slew of pars in the first eight holes, Ardina dropped a shot on No. 9 but recovered with a tap-in birdie on the par-5 No. 11 before fumbling with a double-bogey mishap on the 15th. She had a 36-38.
Ardina, who humbled pro flightmates Frederique Dorbes of France (78) and Benedikte Brynestadgrotvedt of Norway (82), joined 16 others in 36th place even as she hopes to better her first round output in a bid to make the 60-player cut for the final round Sunday.
Ardina, winner of four international tournaments in the junior and amateur ranks, also gets to see action in next week’s Finnair Masters in Helsinki, Finland, the last of two Ladies Euro Tour tournaments she was invited to play.
From Europe, Ardina will head straight to the US to pursue a study grant from ICTSI at the Pendleton Academy in Florida where she will be joined by teammates Cyna Rodriguez, Mia Piccio and Marcel Puyat.
Meanwhile, Pettersen, the world No. 6, gave a golfing master class to her home fans when she posted a bogey-free 8-under par 64 to post a four-stroke lead over Germany’s Anja Monke and five ahead of Italy’s Diana Luna, Aussie Nikki Garrett and Solheim Cup veteran Gwladys Nocera.
It was a great start for the 26-year-old Pettersen - a two-time winner on this year’s LPGA Tour - who made three birdies in her first four holes then closed her front nine with a brace of birdies to take the outright lead on five-under, leaving a clutch of players on three-under mid-round.
Her back nine featured an eagle at the third and a birdie at the seventh, although a par-save on the final hole will have ranked alongside her day’s greatest achievements after making a spectacular 100-yard approach shot from a difficult fairway bunker to within 30-feet of the pin.
“Was that the perfect day? I guess you can say so - at home, playing good golf, rolling the putts in. It doesn’t get much better,” Pettersen said.
“You always feel a little bit of pressure being at home but it feels like I’ve got a lot of experience to keep out the pressure. I just work in my own little bubble.
“I had a lot of commitments today to myself and it seems like I completed them all so it shows what I’ve said the last couple of months. I feel like I have a very low round in me.”
Pettersen also had praise for the crowd, who had much to cheer throughout her round. “It’s absolutely fantastic being at home with this weather,” she said.
The English duo of Georgina Simpson and Danielle Masters finished on two-under 70 and tied for seventh position.