“I was playing very solid and didn’t make many mistakes. One bogey at the last but that played so long today. I hit a three-wood for my second shot,” she said.

Reid agreed that conditions were tough. “You’ve just got to stay patient in those kinds of conditions. I hit it okay; not 100 percent but had a good run of birdies, which put me up there.

“The wind was really tough. There were a few tricky pins and you couldn’t really get to them with the wind. It was tricky out there.”

Meanwhile Eberl, the ambassador for the tournament, carded seven birdies and was delighted to be in contention at her home golf course. After finishing her round, she leapt into the arms of her coach, Danny Wilde.

“I’m hosting this tournament and it’s my home course, my home people here and of course there is a bit more pressure on me at this tournament than any other,” explained the three-time LET winner. “I’m just really happy that my mental game and strength really came out today. I am really happy with how it went.

It is important to me and shows me that the whole work with my mental coach and technical coach pays off.”