It was the calm before the storm. Well, it was before Anne van Dam had her say.
While those running the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open are bracing themselves for the kind of meteorological misery that prompted the invention of the Ark, yesterday’s bright, warm and calm conditions at The Renaissance offered a gentle respite from all the hysterical talk of impending armageddon. Not everyone was smiling, mind you.
Despite barging into a share of the lead with an eight-under 63 that was as lively as the Met Office’s pressure charts, van Dam wasn’t particularly enchanted by the decision to move five tees forward as a precautionary measure.
Three of the holes were playing over 40 yards shorter than originally planned and the subject led to van Dam’s mood blackening to such an extent you just about expected the klaxon to sound during her post round blether.
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“On a day like today, the weather was just perfect and I saw no need to do that,” said the 23-year-old. “If it’s a day like tomorrow, with a lot of rain (predicted), fine. I can understand some movements. But a day like today?
“All I can say is I’m just disappointed. You’re talking about the best players in the world in the female game. I don’t think we need any short courses, not at all.”
Prodded on the matter and asked if the decision was somewhat disrespectful to the players, van Dam added: “100 per cent. It makes no sense why you should put two par 3s forward about 30, 40 yards. I’m just going to stop talking about it.”
Moving swiftly on, then, and van Dam’s performance gave her plenty of other things to talk about.
An eventful round, which comprised seven birdies and three bogeys, also included a pair of eagles at the 12th – her third – and the first.
She clattered a 6-iron at the 12th to three feet and a 5-iron into a similar distance on the first. “They were two nice gimmes,” she said.
Van Dam is currently occupying the third and final automatic qualifying spot on the Ladies European Tour points list for the Solheim Cup team and this is the last counting event.
While there is still an outside chance that someone could overtake her this weekend, the four-time tour winner’s robust start has fortified her position as she strives to become just the second Dutch woman to compete in the biennial bout against the US.
“What other players do is out of my control,” she said. “All I can do is just focus on my game and try to get a top-10.
“Only the top-10 get (qualifying) points this week. For me, that’s how I can guarantee my spot. That’s all I can ask for myself.”
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The standard had been set earlier in the day by Korea’s Mi Hyang Lee, who won the Ladies Scottish Open at Dundonald two years ago, and prospered here on the east coast with a tidy 63 which included an eagle and six birdies.
American Jane Park joined the three-way tie at the top with a purposeful surge on her back nine – she started at the 10th – and birdied four holes in a row from the fourth. It was a case of making hay while the sun was shining.
“I heard the end of the world is coming tomorrow,” she said of the grisly forecast. “I must be mad because I love playing in the wind and rain.”
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