Kaleigh Telfer and Alena Sharp stacked up birdies during the opening round of the Copper Rock Championship, both signing 8-under 64s to hold a one-shot lead over Daniel Iacobelli. The pair combined for 17 birdies and only one bogey, with both players coming from the morning wave. The wind started to pick up as the day went on, making for challenging afternoon conditions, but Jessica Porvasnik was still able to post 6-under 66 to have the best round of the afternoon.
Telfer is making her first appearance at the Copper Rock Championship and was only one shot off in tying the course record during her debut in Hurricane, Utah. The 8-under round was bogey-free for the 25-year-old, matching the lowest round of her Epson Tour career. The round for Telfer was remarkably consistent, with the South African native's longest stretch without a birdie on the card being three holes. Telfer will have to battle through the much more difficult afternoon conditions in her second round, but she is confident in her game and feels like it has started to come together at the end of the West Coast swing.
"I think just the past couple of weeks, everything started to fall into place. And then today, it just all fell into place," said Telfer. "The putter was hot. I made a couple of good par saves when I needed to and then hit my irons really close, which was nice to have a couple of six-footers for birdie and just made them all. Nine was my last hole, with the whole grandstand full behind the green. It just feels like a really important, which is nice."
On the other hand, Sharp opened her 2024 Copper Rock Championship the same way she closed out her 2023 Copper Rock Championship, carding an 8-under 64 at Copper Rock Golf Course. The last three rounds for Sharp at the Copper Rock Championship have her at a staggering 23-under par, with only one bogey in that stretch. The Canadian will be in search of her third career Epson Tour victory when she tees it up on Moving Day, and like Telfer, Sharp feels like her game is rounding into form at the right time and when her putter is hot, she is capable of posting consistent low rounds like she has for so long in her career.
"I've been playing well, but I just putted terribly last week, so I worked on it this week. I played well here last year, and I think I just see the breaks better," said Sharp on her putting. "It's so much easier to make putts when you are sure of your read. I started off really well and just kept going, so kind of continuing on from last year."
The leaders, along with Iacobelli, will tee off in the afternoon wave as they try to keep their names at the top of the leaderboard. Jessica Porvasnik follows closely behind at 6-under, and a group of six players are at 5-under, all looking to make a push during their second rounds.
ABOUT THE LEADERS
Kaleigh Telfer and Alena Sharp both carded an 8-under 64 to share the lead after the first day of play
Kaleigh Telfer
- Telfer made eight birdies and no bogeys to make her way to the top of the leaderboard
- The 8-under round is tied for the lowest round in her Epson Tour career
- Her other 8-under round came at the 2023 Epson Tour Championship
- This is Telfer’s third season on the Epson Tour
- The 25-year-old has four top-10 finishes on the Epson Tour since 2022
- Her best career finish came at the 2023 Epson Tour Championship, where she finished T2
- The South Africa native finished No. 26 in the 2023 Race for the Card
- She currently holds the No. 68 spot in the 2024 Race for the Card
Alena Sharp
- Sharp made nine birdies and one bogey to sit in a tie for the lead after 18 holes
- The Canadian has two victories on the Epson Tour
- Her most recent win was at the 2023 Champions Fore Change Invitational
- The 43-year-old has 16 career top-10 finishes on the LPGA Tour
- Finished fifth at the 2019 Dow Championship with fellow Canadian Brooke Henderson
- Has represented team Canada twice at the Olympics
- 2016 Rio Olympics (30th) and 2020 Tokyo Olympics (49th)
THINGS TO KNOW
Daniela Iacobelli fired a bogey-free 7-under 65 and sits in third place at the Copper Rock Championship
- The 7-under round was her best score of the season by four shots
- Iacobelli has 33 top-10 finishes and four victories on the Epson Tour since her rookie season in 2010
- Her most recent victory came at the 2022 Wildhorse Ladies Golf Classic
- She has one career top-10 finish on the LPGA Tour at the 2018 LOTTE Championship presented by Hoakaeli
- The Florida native won the 2007 NCAA DII Individual National Championship while representing Florida Institute of Technology
Therese Warner signed for a bogey-free 5-under round and is currently T5
- Warner finished runner-up at the 2023 Copper Rock Championship
- Last year’s finish is the best of her career
- The 5-under round is her best round of the season by six shots
- Warner made 11 cuts in 20 starts during her 2023 season
- The Epson Tour sophomore finished No. 50 in the 2023 Race for the Card standings
QUICK QUOTES
Daniela Iacobelli (-7, 3) on the support and atmosphere at the Copper Rock Championship:
“The best part of all of this is the amount of volunteers and every single one of them is happy. Every single one is cheering for you. I mean, we had claps all day. It was it was fun. It was enjoyable. I had a good group and then all these people out here to watch us. I mean, it doesn't get better.”
Jessica Porvasnik (-6, 4) on her bogey-free 6-under 66 and her play so far this season:
“I got off to a good start and just kept plugging away. I mean, I hit a lot of greens today, which is great. The greens got a little firmer, so you have to play a little more cautious on the backside. But overall, just put myself in the right spots. I felt like I made a lot of progress in the off season and I’m just not really focusing on the number right now, just more like putting up scores and just keep doing what I'm doing.”
Amy Lee (-5, T5) on her up and down 5-under opening round:
“I just tried to come back from the bogeys. I knew that I was playing well, so I know there were birdies out there. I made a couple of mistakes, but I bounced back. I mean, I was hitting the ball really good today, so I put my drives out in good position. I had a lot of wedges in, so I was able to attack pins.”
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