Local amateur star Emilie Ricaud has upstaged her professional counterparts to take the lead after round 1 of the Sheraton Deva New Caledonia Women`s International Pro-am in New Caledonia today. 
The youngster shot a superb 1-under par round of 71 and will take a 1-shot lead into tomorrow`s second and final round from New South Welshwoman Celina Yuan, with Queensland`s Nadine White, NSW Chizuru Ueda, and American Brooke Baker a further shot back in a tie for third place. 

Ricaud, whose father is a golf professional, played solidly battling the unseasonal weather conditions with heavy rain falling on the course for the majority of the round, making three birdies at the 4th, 16th and 17th holes, offset only by bogeys at the 3rd and 6th holes to sign for a 71. 

The already accomplished 17-year-old finished in 11th place in this event in June last year, followed by a 16th place finish at the Annika Invitational in New Zealand and a fourth-place finish at the Mobil South Pacific Junior Championship.
In December 2018 Ricaud earned her most impressive win to date when she came away with a five-shot victory in the girls 16-18 division at the Doral Publix Junior championship in the USA.

For Yuan, today`s round was another step in the right direction as she battles back from a disappointing first couple of seasons in the professional ranks. The now 20-year-old was touted as a star of the future after an impressive amateur career but her results haven`t as yet lived up to the hype.
The quietly spoken Sydney-sider, who also has a brother in the professional ranks, has shown signs on the ALPG Tour this year that both her game and her confidence are slowly returning and could well be the player to beat tomorrow.

The second round will get underway tomorrow morning at 9:30am local time

First round scores can be found HERE

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