Par threes caused challenges in stormy winds – Lindell: "A good fight in such stressful conditions"
Oliver Lindell played his opening round in Mauritius, which lasted a full six hours, with a score of 72 (par). Played in extremely challenging wind conditions, this was an excellent result and puts him in 34th place. Those who followed the broadcast could sense how exceptionally windy the round was played in. Lindell said that even a big fade shot turned into a draw when the wind blew from the right.
“Six hours flew by quickly when we reached the finish line after setting off on the opening leg. It was a good battle, considering that hitting the ball is very stressful on every tee. If the ball starts to drift in this wind, you really go off course and properly. I can’t remember when I last had to deliberately start hitting such off-course shots with hooded clubs. I got the putts to line up well, and at the end there were even more spots that spun out.”
The challenging par-3 holes proved to be a stumbling block for the Finn in the opening round. He played them exceptionally four strokes over par, while the par 4s and par 5s went extremely well (-4). The nature of the competition is reflected in the scorecards of the six players at the top, each of which includes at least three bogeys or a double bogey – as in Lindell’s case.
“The par threes were weak today. I didn’t hit the greens, except on the most difficult seventh hole of the day. It’s challenging to get close to the flag from over 80 metres, but the shots were weak too. Most of the par 3 holes are played into the wind, which makes it feel like you always have too big a club in your hand,” said Lindell, commenting on the challenging conditions.
The Porvoo double bogey was made on a short par-4 hole. On the opening day, every par-3 hole on the course was played above par on average.
“I hit it with an iron when there were only 123 metres left to the flag. The shot got stuck and went off to the right into the hay. You have to hit that green, otherwise this is what happens. I only got to the fourth green and sank a good 2.5-metre putt.”
The windy links course presented the greatest challenges for those who missed the fairways more severely. Lindell did not encounter any major problems off the tee, but said that even in their group, a few balls were lost in the links grass. Lindell, who favours a fade spin, managed to control the strength of the spin well depending on the wind direction.
The lead in the results (-5) is shared by experienced Scot Scott Jamieson and South African Casey Jarvis, who is 20 years his junior.
Lindell will start his second round early on Friday morning at 4:30 a.m. Finnish time.