Golf: Kiwi women disappoint in Queen Sirikit Cup opener

New Zealand struggled with their putting and slumped to 10th place on the first day of the Queen Sirikit Cup women's golf championship in China yesterday.

The team of Sarah Nicholson, Penny New Brook and Enu Chung returned a score of 157, 13-over par and 16 shots off defending champions Korea in the Asia-Pacific teams competition at the Wu Ji Fountain Palm Country Club in the Guangdong Province.

All three players were strong from tee to green but then struggled to put the ball in the hole, with their rounds littered with three-putts on the grainy surface, New Zealand high performance manager Gaylene Eyre said.

Wellington's Nicholson was the best of the team with a six-over par 78, Auckland's Chung shot 79 and Rotorua's Newbrook hit the non-counting 80.

The score has effectively shut the Kiwis out of contention in the 54-hole strokeplay team tournament.

"They are gutted, and went straight back out on the putting green. They just could not read the greens and their putting was sub-standard," Eyre said.

"Sarah and Penny were particularly long off the tee and in general put themselves into good scoring condition.

"However, they let themselves down badly, missing the good birdie chances and all suffered several three-putts.

"The greens are different and difficult but we have been here for several days in preparation -- a lot longer than many of the teams who scored well today.

"The tournament is now out of their reach but they all have a lot to play for in the next two days."

Korea led the way with a three-under par total of 141, to hold a three-shot advantage over Chinese Taipei, with a further two shots back to China and Japan on two-over par 146.

Eight-time winners Australia also had a slow start to be sixth, nine shots behind the leaders.

- NZPA