BELMONT, Mich. — When Leona Maguire stepped foot on the first tee box at Blythfield Country Club this week, she felt right at home.
But the Ireland native was nearly 3,500 miles away from her home in County Cavan when she hit her first shot of the Meijer LPGA Classic. Still, she said the course in the heart of West Michigan reminded her a lot of the ones she grew up on back in Europe.
“It reminds me a lot of home, a lot of golf courses that I would’ve grew up playing at home,” Maguire said. “Very green, some trees. Yeah, drove the ball really well today. (The course) just sort of suited my eye quite well.”
Maguire shot a 7-under 65 and was tied for a share of the first-round lead with Lauren Stephenson, Nasa Hataoka and Charley Hull. While many of the other golfers have played the course in previous years, this was Magurie’s first competition at Blythfield.
The course just underwent a massive $3.2 million renovation. The new look includes added bunkers, adjusted tee boxes and the removal of plenty of trees. Not having any prior knowledge of the course helped Maguire play bogey-free golf Thursday.
“I know a lot of girls have been saying there is a bunker added here and there and trees have been removed and all of that. I’m just going gung-ho. I don’t know any different,” Maguire said. “It’s both my caddie and my first time here, so fresh eyes and fresh perspective, which is sometimes nice.
Min Lee, who is one shot off the lead at 6 under, said she definitely noticed a lot of changes to the course. She was forced to adjust a few shots compared to what she had done in previous years.
“There is a lot of changes, especially rerouting the 18 holes, so that plays a little different for me today compared to the past few years,” Lee said. “But I think there is some good changes over there, and then you really have to be focused on your tee shots now, you can’t just cut the corner.”
The first round was played in picture-perfect conditions, a welcome relief to the players who had played in tough weather in recent tournaments. That perfect weather won’t last for long though, with rain in the forecast Friday and Sunday.
Still, even an ocean away from her hometown, Maguire knows what she has to do to keep her home course advantage on the other side of the Atlantic.
“You know everybody is going to go low. You can’t really stop and look behind you very much. You just have to keep your foot down and keep going,” Maguire said. “Hopefully the rain can stay away. Just trying to give yourself as many chances as you possibly can, and whoever holes those putts really is going to be atop the leaderboard come the weekend.”
