Germany’s Celina Sattelkau overcame a late start due to fog in Wednesday’s opening round of the SuperSport Ladies Challenge presented by Sun International at Humewood Golf Club, and posted a three-under-par 69 to lead by one stroke in the first Sunshine Ladies Tour event of the year.

It was a tough opening round on the famous links course, with Sattelkau and her nearest challenger, Norwegian Tina Mazarino on two-under-par 70, the only two players who managed to shoot under par on day one.

For Sattelkau, it was a difficult start to the tournament.

“It was a pretty eventful day for everyone. I got up at 4:30am for the first tee time at 7am, but the fog and mist made things difficult as I had to warm up multiple times. Thankfully the fog lifted, but then it got really hot and windy. The course played really difficult today and you can see it looking at the scores,” she said.

The German was however satisfied with her own game in the difficult conditions.

“I did a good job finding the fairway and most of the good spots on the greens. I didn’t have too many misses with my approach shots, and where I did I was able to make up-and-downs. It was really difficult with the wind. You had to club up or down three to four clubs. I am however happy with the round, especially how I handled the situations mentally,” Sattelkau said.

With two more rounds to play, Sattelkau is enjoying her time in sunny South Africa.

“For the next two days I am just hoping to stay committed and confident, and we will see what happens. I try not to think too much about it and just try and enjoy it here. In Germany it’s very cold now, so it’s nice to have some sun and develop my game,” Sattelkau said.

The 2023 SuperSport Ladies Challenge champion, and last year’s runner up, Casandra Alexander, is amongst a group of seven players in joint third place after rounds of one-over-par 73.

SCORES

69 – Celina Sattelkau (GER)
70 – Tina Mazarino (NOR)
73 – Zane Kleynhans
73 – Gabrielle Venter, Tereza Melecka (CZE), Symone Henriques, Cara Gorlei, Chiara Horder (GER), Casandra Alexander
74 – Kaylah Williams
74 – Lorna McClymont (SCO), Nobuhle Dlamini (SWZ), Hannah Karg (GER), Kaiyuree Moodley
75 – Sophie Witt (GER)
75 – Kaleigh Telfer, Caitlyn Macnab, Nadia van der Westhuizen
76 – Olivia Mehaffey (NIR)
76 – Ana Dawson (IMN)
77 – Laura Beveridge (SCO)
77 – Zethu Myeki, Emie Peronnin (FRA), Anne-Charlotte Mora (FRA), Lenanda Nel, Lee-Anne Pace, Lora Assad, Carolin Kauffmann (GER)
78 – Chante van Zyl
78 – Ashley Chow (CAN), Verena Gimmy (GER), Tara Baglione, Lily May Humphreys (ENG), Michelle Forsland (NOR), Lindi Coetzee
79 – Naom Wafula (KEN)
79 – Bronwyn Doeg, Lynette Fourie, Shawnelle de Lange, Danielle du Toit, Kiera Floyd, Kelsey Nicholas
80 – Emily Penttila (FIN)
81 – Leontine Petit (FRA)
81 – Alexandra Swayne (ISV), Jordan Rothman, Ivanna van der Merwe
82 – Stacy Bregman
82 – Cara Ford, Pasqualle Coffa (NED)
83 – Romy Meekers (NED)
83 – Anais Meyssonnier (FRA), Isabella van Rooyen
84 – Rosie Belsham (ENG)
85 – Kim de Klerk
92 – Ellandri van Heerden

Issued by Michael Vlismas Media