Galloway, N.J. - Mariah Stackhouse carded a hole-in one, and Dani Holmqvist used a bogey free round to stake herself the lead after one day of play at the 2023 ShopRite LPGA Classic Presented by Acer.
In addition to Holmqvist going bogey free on Friday, she also added five birdies and one eagle to her score card to head into the Seaview clubhouse at 7-under-par.
"You know, I think just that's what everyone out here--that's what we all strive to do," Holmqvist said after her round. "Some weeks you're better than others, and some weeks you feel like you're losing,"
Holmqvist added, "So, it's fun to actually come out on top for you once. This game is tough, and just got to cherish when you actually put together a good one."
While Holmqvist my have been the leader at the end of the first day, it was Stackhouse who provided the highlight of the day.
After waiting by the tee box on hole seven for approximately 20 minutes, Stackhouse hit her 3-hybrid 185 yards to the hole for an ace. It was her first hole-in-one on the LPGA Tour.
"Took a nice smooth swing. It was a perfect shot," Stackhouse said of her hole-in-one. "Couldn't see it. They said it was going straight at the hole, it felt good, so I was like, all right, great. Maybe a birdie opportunity."
It was not until Stackhouse got closer to the green that she realized that she had scored the ace, even thinking for a time that she had put her tee shot in the bunker.
"Then we saw some of the guys down at the green doing some motions and I was like, I hope they're not saying it went in the bunker, but we just couldn't tell," Stackhouse continued. "And, so we're walking up and they start clapping and I'm like, okay, it's not in the bunker. They're like, it's in the hole. We were just like, yeah, that's awesome."
Rounding out the top of the field after the first day at Seaview, Jenny Shin and Yan Liu sit in a tie for second place at 6-under, while Sarah Schmelzel, Soo Bin Joo, Georgia Hall, Anna Nordqvist, and Paula Reto sit in a tie for fourth at 5-under.
The ShopRite LPGA Classic continues Saturday with golfers teeing off at 7:30 a.m. The action from Galloway can be seen live on the Golf Channel from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. with additional, streaming coverage on golfchannel.com, NBCSports.com, and the NBC Sports App from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
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