The Norwegian golfer Marianne Skarpnord spreadeagled the field with an opening round of 65 yesterday at the New Zealand Womens Open at Pegagusus Town north of Christchurch.
24 year old Skarpnord, who won twice on the European Tour last year, started her round with a string of weight threes, and her 7-under par round left her two strokes clear of the American Diana D'Alessio, with only six others breaking 70.
The leading New Zealanders on 71 are the Wellington professional Sarah Nicholson, and the North Island amateurs Zoe Brake and 12 year old Lydia Ko. They're tied for 10th place.
Lydia Ko and Cecilia Cho will make their amateur debuts for New Zealand in next month's Trans-Tasman Cup match against Australia.
