SOUTH Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai delivered a strong performance on the opening day of the Olympic women’s golf tournament in Paris yesterday.
Having only recently recovered from a broken toe, Buhai was in splendid form from the opening tee, shooting a first round of four-under-par 68, including five birdies and a bogey, to sit three shots behind home favourite Celine Boutier.
Frenchwoman Boutier had strong support throughout her opening round and thrilled the locals with eight birdies to finish with a brilliant seven-under 65.
Defending Olympic champion Nelly Korda of the US is down in 13th place, seven strokes behind the leader, with Mexico’s Gaby Lopez, Colombian Mariajo Uribe and Morgane Metraux from Switzerland tied with Lilia Vu of the US in third place.
South Africa’s other competitor in the field, Paula Reto, carded a six-over 78, which included three birdies, a bogey, double-bogey and triple-bogey.
Buhai was particularly pleased with her performance due to her clubs having arrived late, which affected her preparation ahead of her opening round.
“The key today was committing to every shot. The course is very demanding in just playing smart golf and playing away from the pins when it was required,” she said.
“Taking my two putts, and then when I had wedges in my hand, I was able to be more aggressive.
“It was nice to get off to a fast start on the first hole to settle the nerves.
“There are few holes that are quite demanding, so to hole quite a long putt settled me down.
“I haven’t played Le Golf National before, and only ended up playing a 12-hole practice round because my clubs didn’t arrive until yesterday afternoon.”
Buhai made her Olympic debut in Rio de Janeiro eight years ago, but withdrew from Tokyo in 2021 due to fears surrounding the Covid-19 virus.
She is certainly enjoying her experience in France, especially having experienced the vocal Parisian support for leader Boutier.
"I committed to my shots well, which is what you have to do around this golf course."
— LPGA (@LPGA) August 7, 2024
With the highest GIR in #Paris2024 Round 1, @ash_simon sits at solo second!#Olympics pic.twitter.com/MB4xPzqCZ2
“The crowd was amazing. It’s the most people we have ever played in front of, especially with Celine Boutier from France playing two groups ahead of me,” Buhai said.
“So, we had a lot of people around, and it was great to also have some South Africans there cheering me on.
“The Olympic experience is amazing, especially with this one being the first without us having any issues. We had Zika (virus) in Rio, and I chose not to go to Tokyo because of Covid and the anxiety that was around it.
“I’m very grateful to be here and experience my second one. We stayed in the village the first two days, and to just be among the best athletes in the world, and meeting a bunch of South Africans playing all sports, so just taking it all in.”
In the pool, SA diver Julia Vincent qualified for the semi-finals of the women’s 3m springboard.
Vincent produced a combined score of 283.50 to finish 13th. “The prelim is always the hardest round for me. That’s where I find I feel most of my nerves,” she told the Team SA website.
“Today, I just listened to some music. I have a wedding next year, so I was just looking. I was like planning my wedding. I was looking at like things on Pinterest. And it’s fun for me.
DIVING 🌊
— Team South Africa (@OfficialTeamRSA) August 7, 2024
Julia Vincent placed 13th, scoring 283.50 points in the Women's 3m Springboard Preliminary. She now advances to the semi-finals!#TeamSA #ForMyCountry #Olympics pic.twitter.com/ZArHZLOvaw
“It takes my mind completely off the... competition, and it makes me happy. So that’s what I was doing today. Sometimes I play games. It just depends on the day.
“I felt very, very nervous this morning and then I came out with warm up and I felt pretty good. I’m really just trying to have a great time like this. This is my main goal, to have a great time, and really stay present and just take it one dive at a time.“
Meanwhile, Hamish Lovemore led the way for SA’s canoeists yesterday at the Paris Olympics.
Lovemore, who hails from East London, had earlier finished third in his 1 000m heat to progress to the quarter-finals.
The 23-year-old then went one better by crossing the line in second place in a time of three minutes 36.64 seconds to qualify for the semi-finals.
🇿🇦 Hamish Lovemore and Andrew Birkett battle is out to make the Men's Kayak Single 1000m semi-finals 🔥#Paris2024 | #CloserToYourChampions pic.twitter.com/yEqlmIYX9c
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) August 7, 2024
Unfortunately, doubles partner Andrew Birkett finished just behind him in third place and was unable to progress to the semis.
The women’s kayak single 500m heats did also not go South Africa’s way, with Esti Olivier and Tiffany Koch failing to progress to the semi-finals.
Olivier finished sixth in her heat in 1:53.21, while Koch was further back in 1:56.81.
There was not much better fortune in track cycling, with Jean Spies finishing 29th in qualifying with a time of 9.962sec in the men’s sprint.
Skateboarder Dallas Oberholzer delivered a better performance than three years ago in Tokyo, but did not progress to the semi-finals after the veteran finished 23rd overall with a best score of 33.83.
In men’s climbing, Mel Janse van Rensburg added 7.1 lead points to his 9.4 boulder points for a total of 16.5 in the semi-finals, but that was only good enough to see him finish 20th, and he missed out on the final.