By Tony Burns
Sports Editor
“Solid,” was the word Casey Danielson used to describe her opening round 67 Friday at the Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout at Mystic Creek. The native of Osceola, Wisconsin carded 11 pars with just one bogey en route to her five-under par score.
“It was a pretty solid round,” Danielson said in a Symetra Tour interview after her round. “I didn’t get into much trouble, which is how I think you can make some birdies on this course just by being patient and playing steady because it’s a really tough golf course. I was definitely happy with my score today.”
Sweden’s Louise Ridderstrom, South Korea’s Hyemin Kim and Wake Forest graduate Allison Emrey (Charlotte, North Carolina) are a shot back after shooting 4-under 68. Elizabeth Szokol, of Illinois, shot 3-under 69.
Kim drained a hole-in-one on the par-3 12th.
“Even before, the hole on No. 11, I hit the flag with my 52 wedge. I was like, ‘ooh.’ That was a very pleasure birdie. I thought maybe it’s a good round today. Maybe, it’s coming,” said Kim, who hit her second hole-in-one on the Symetra Tour. “I go to the tee box, 149 yards, maybe the 7-iron is a good number. So, I hit it. I actually aimed a little more right because to the left is a hazard. If I hit a little left, it might go into the hazard. The pin placement was difficult, too. After I hit the shot I realized the ball was going straight to the flag. ‘Oh, it looks pretty good.’ And, it rolled towards the hole.”
Danielson said hitting the greens was the key to a round that saw her hit six birdies, including three in a row on holes 5, 6 and 7.
“The greens all slope. The greens are bold so it’s easy to hit a good shot and then roll off the green,” said Danielson. “The way around that is to hit middle of the green, take your medicine, have a good look at birdie but two-putt for par on most holes.”
The former Stanford Cardinal said it will take a lot more steady golf to keep her spot atop the leaderboard.
“I think just more of the same, just stay real steady, hit a lot of the greens and wait for those pins that look good to your eye that you can go for,” she said. “These hole locations out here are really tough. They put them in the corners. So, I just wait until I get a really good number that I like and a hole location I can go for. Otherwise, I’m just going to play steady.”
Ridderstrom carded five birdies and just one bogey during her 68. Emrey fired seven birdies, including five in a row on holes 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, to go along with three bogeys.
Three shots off the pace was Sweden’s Louise Stahle, who shot 70 Dottie Ardina (Philippines), Sandy Choi (South Korea) and Emily Penttila (Finland) all shot 71 with Huize Lian (China), Becca Huffer (Denver, Colorado), Lauren Kim (Los Altos, California) and Stephanie Kono (Honolulu, Hawaii) tied at even par 72.
Argentina’s Manuela Carbajo Re hit a hole-in-one on the 184-yard, No. 4 hole, using a 6-iron. She finished with a 77, tied for 61st.
Hyemin Kim, who made national headlines when she donated her $15,000 check for winning the 2017 POC Med Golf Classic to LPGA-USGA Girls Golf, a program that introduces girls ages 6-17 to the sport, tackled the Mystic Creek course for the second time.
The players have to choose weeks to skip during the hectic season. Kim said she wasn’t skipping El Dorado’s tournament.
“This course is always so challenging. But, it’s always in great shape and it’s so beautiful,” she said. “I decided to skip the next one because I really wanted to play this course. I really look forward to being in El Dorado again. I’m pretty excited. I’m happy with how I played today. I can’t wait for tomorrow.”