The first day of play at the French Lick Resort Charity Classic was suspended at 8:10 p.m. ET due to darkness. The first round was suspended at 8:04 a.m. ET due to fog in the area, with play resuming at 10:50 a.m. ET. The players in the afternoon wave could not finish their rounds, but the morning wave was able to post some low numbers on a challenging golf course.
Laetitia Beck posted the round of the morning, ending the day with the solo lead. The six-under 66, with a closing birdie on her last hole of the day, was good enough to tie the all-time tournament low round. A closing 32 on the back nine for Beck included five birdies and a bogey, giving her a one-shot lead with golfers close behind still on the course.
"It feels good to be done with a six-under," said Beck with a smile. "This is one of the toughest courses we play, so I'm very happy. I wasn't expecting to shoot that low."
This is the second strong start for Beck in a row, opening the Twin Bridges Championship with a five-under round. Despite some shakiness off the tee today, the 31-year-old carded her second-best round of the season.
"It shows me that I can score well," said Beck. "I'm struggling a little bit off the tee, so it's nice to see that even when I don't have my A-Game, I can still shoot low. I just have to keep reminding myself and remember that I have the game to shoot six-under and even lower."
The Pete Dye Course at French Lick has presented several challenges for the field in the past, but players have been able to post red numbers throughout the day. Beck's six-under round puts her only one shot off the winning number of seven-under in 2022 with three rounds to play. Beck's missed cut in French Lick last year gave her insight into her gameplan this week and how to approach the tournament.
"We play golf enough here, so we know how it is. We know that people are going to make mistakes and people are going to hit bad shots," said Beck. "It's a tough golf course; even with bad shots, you can get penalized, so you just have to commit. By starting well and continuing well, not making mistakes, it was pretty much a stress-free round for me. I didn't really have to worry about mistakes because I was keeping the ball in play, and I have a great caddie with me this week."
Karen Chung turned in one of the best rounds of the morning with a four-under 68 that currently has her in a tie for fourth. Chung made it around the course with only one blemish on the card, a bogey on the par 3, 8th hole. The bogey was quickly forgotten after three birdies in six holes from Chung, who, like Beck, took advantage of the back nine with a 33.
"I mean, we are all golfers out here, so we want to get greedy," said Chung. "You just have to remember to hit fairways and greens and just take what you can get. Out here, ball striking is just huge because there aren't big landing areas, and the greens are small. So, if I can just hit the ball well, I think I can survive."
Rookie, Mariel Galdiano, matched Chung with a four-under round of her own. Galdiano's card looked more colorful than Chung's, making a double bogey on her second hole of the day. However, the slight setback did not faze the rookie after making six birdies in her next 14 holes. She will be looking for her best finish of the season and to finish her rookie season strong.
"I had a double early out there, but you have to have a short-term memory out here, or this course will eat you alive," said Galdiano. "I just tried to get myself good looks. The best part of my game today was my irons, by far. They just gave me a lot of good birdie looks, and I was able to take advantage of a few."
QUICK QUOTES
Cynthia Lu (-3, T8) on her three-under opening round:
"I have been telling myself par is a good score out here. I just had to follow my gameplan. I did a lot of course management the night before, and I think I did a really good job on that. I think I am just going to go home and get some rest and try to attack the course the same way tomorrow.
Emma Broze (-3, T6) on a strong start to her tournament:
"It was a long day for sure, with the rain this morning and the fog delay, so it feels good to walk out with a 69 today. Even though there were a couple of mistakes, I managed to finish with a birdie, and I was pretty pumped about that."
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