BRANDENBURG: Avani Prashanth, an amateur from India, finished second after the first round of the Amundi German Masters with a round of 7-under 65. She blasted a significant warning shot with an albatross.
Avani caught the second albatross of her life on Thursday while competing on a sponsor's exemption for the second year in a row. Avani had six birdies, an albatross, and only two bogeys during the practise round in Bangalore in 2015 when she was eight years old.
Olivia Mehaffey of England was in the lead after shooting a fantastic round of 64 and holding a one-stroke advantage. Diksha Dagar (69), one of the other Indians, who has been playing well lately, was tied for sixth. She had two bogeys and five birdies. Vani Kapoor (73), Ridhima Dilawari (75), and Amandeep Drall (77) were tied for 105th place at the completion of the round.
At the Golf & Country Club Seddiner See, Mehaffey, a player from Northern Ireland, started her round on the back nine. She made a birdie on hole 10 before making four consecutive birdies from hole 13 through hole 16.
Mehaffey missed strokes on holes 17 and 18, but quickly recovered with birdies on holes 1, 4, 5, 6, and 8 to move to the top of the leaderboard at eight under par.
After needing to focus on her mental health and find healing after the passing of her father Philip in December 2021, Mehaffey took a sabbatical from life on Tour halfway through the previous season. She started playing competitive golf again at the start of the 2023 season, and since adding a new driver to her bag last week, her game has been getting better.
Avani, a 16-year-old amateur, bogeyed the fifth hole before quickly finding her rhythm and making birdies on the sixth, eighth, and ninth holes. The teenager shot up the leaderboard with to an albatross sandwiched between two birdies, and she finished with a birdie on hole 17 and a bogey on hole 18 for a seven-under total.
Avani Prashanth was cited as stating in a release on Friday, "I began off alright. "I had a bogey to give it a bit of a bumpy start, but I really stayed calm, made my birdies, and finished the front nine at two-under.
"I then made another birdie and an incredibly surprising albatross, which was the round's high point. With all the adrenaline pumping through me, I had to maintain my composure. On holes 17 and 18, I made two birdies. I had a bogey finish, but I'm still happy with how the day went and eager for tomorrow. For the albatross on the Par-5 13th hole, she holed out from 197 yards with a 5-Iron. From the 12th to the 14th she was birdie-albatross-birdie.
Johanna Gustavsson of Sweden and Meghan MacLaren of England are tied for third place on six under par after each of their rounds of 66 included just one stroke lost. After the first round, Kristyna Napoleova of the Czech Republic, Cara Gainer of England, Virginia Elena Carta of Italy, and Celine Herbin of France are all tied for fifth place on four under par.
Six players are tied for tenth place, one shot back, with Kim Metraux and Tiffany Arafi of Switzerland, Hayley Davis of England, Diksha Dagar of India, Sarah Schober of Austria, and Clara Manzalini of Italy all shooting three under par.
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