NORTH AYRSHIRE, Scotland — There were moments on day one of the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open that were so ghoulish, they should’ve been shrouded by a forensic tent and protected by a police cordon.
While Jenny Shin and Lauren Coughlin harnessed the tricky conditions, and even trickier pin positions, to fine effect with 6-under 66s to set the early pace, the calamities that befell Charley Hull and Georgia Hall were the talk of the Dundonald Links steamie.
Hull, the world No 7, racked up a nine in bamboozling circumstances on the par-5 fifth while Hall, making her first LPGA appearance since becoming a mother, scribbled a crippling 10 onto her scorecard.
It was hands over the eyes stuff
for Hull. Faced with a birdie putt of around 15 feet on that fifth hole, she dunted her effort past the mischievously perched flag and watched it trundle off the green and down to the foot of the slope.
The 30-year-old tried to dink her next shot up but it didn’t make it and rolled apologetically back to her feet. Her next effort produced exactly the same result. As did the one after that.
By this point, a flabbergasted Hull was scratching her head like Stan Laurel gazing at The Herald’s cryptic crossword, but she finally got her dimpled bundle of toil and trouble back up onto the putting surface and knocked it in for a cursing, muttering quadruple-bogey.
“That could be DE-GREENED.”
— Christopher Powers (@CPowers14) July 23, 2026
Here’s the video of Charley Hull’s 15-foot birdie putt that rolled off the green and turned into a NINE at the Women’s Scottish Open.
Honestly, a ridiculous save for 9 pic.twitter.com/tlMhVyyBv9
Hull eventually signed for a 6-over 78. “I’m not going to say what Charley said,” admitted her playing partner, and defending champion, Lottie Woad with a wry grin.
Presumably it was something a trifle stronger than, ‘oh fiddlesticks’. While Hull’s debacle unravelled, Woad, who won this title in her first start as a professional last year, actually birdied the same hole on her way to a two-over 74.
“I had an eagle putt from 10 feet there but, after seeing Charley’s one, I was just trying to lag it up, which isn’t ideal,” admitted Woad of this cautious approach. “That pin was right at the back (of the green) and there was also a fall off right behind it. It was probably a bit too close with the wind we had.
“We discussed the pins on the way round. The course is definitely playing a lot tougher than last year with the firmness and the wind is pretty strong out there.
“It was going to be tough and there were some pins, certainly on the front nine, that you thought, ‘I don’t know why it is here with this wind’. There were a few borderline ones.”
As for the aforementioned Hall? Well, her return to the cut-and-thrust of the LPGA, after welcoming a baby boy into the world earlier in the year, was certainly eventful and that 10 left her with an 82. It could’ve been worse. Triple major winner Minjee Lee had an 85.
“A nice welcome back,” said Hall with a philosophical smile before documenting the events on the 14th.
“I hit it in a fairway bunker then hit it back on the fairway then went for the green. I just pushed it and it went on the wind and we lost a ball. I’d played a provisional that went into a bush, took a drop and then three-putted. I don’t think I’ve ever had a 10 before. Or one that I can remember anyway.”
The sight of her little boy enjoying the life of Reilly in his pram lifted Hall’s morale as she emerged from the recording hut.
She will now try to give herself a golfing lift in Round 2 as she builds towards next week’s AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham and a return to the championship and the course where she claimed her greatest triumph in 2018.
“I didn’t play as badly as my score suggests,” added Hall. “It’s a new day tomorrow, I will try and get it together and look to improve for next week.”
At the sharp end of affairs, Shin, whose one and only LPGA Tour win arrived a decade ago, packed seven birdies into a nicely assembled card as she eased to the front.
Coughlin, who won the Scottish title in 2024, stuck with a solid strategy while her form on the greens certainly helped her assault.
“I made almost everything that I looked at today so that makes it a little bit easier,” said Coughlin, who reeled off eight birdies in a round of poise and purpose.
Anna Nordqvist, the European Solheim Cup skipper who enjoyed a top-10 in a major the other week at the Amundi Evian Championship, kept her form rolling along with a two-under 70.
Nelly Korda, the world No 1, opened with a level-par 72. On the home front, Scottish rookie, Hannah Darling, stumbled to the turn in 40 but rallied on the back nine and posted a 75.
“I’m proud of how I hung in there,” she said.
On a day of disasters for some, Darling was more than happy to limit the damage.
Nick Rodger is a correspondent for The Herald (Scotland).
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Calamities that befell Charley Hull, Georgia Hall were the talk of Day 1 at Women's Scottish Open
