Alexander three off the pace at Joburg Ladies Open

Casandra Alexander. Sunshine Ladies Tour/Perfect Exposure

South Africa’s top-ranked Casandra Alexander is three strokes off the lead after the first round of the Joburg Ladies Open at Randpark Golf Club on Thursday as she chases her second title in this Sunshine Ladies Tour and Ladies European Tour event.

Alexander opened with a four-under par 69 and is chasing the shared lead of French duo Agathe Laisne and Ariane Klotz and American Brianna Navarrosa on seven-under par.

The leading trio are one stroke clear of the field after an opening day where a soft and receptive golf course made for good scoring.

Alexander teed off her round on the 10th and shrugged off an early bogey with five birdies, an eagle and a further two bogeys thereafter.

“I wasn’t too worried about starting with a bogey on 10. That is one of the tougher holes on this course, so my caddie and I said in our prep for the week that if we could make par there all week we’d be happy because it is a tougher hole. So I didn’t panic with that opening bogey. It wasn’t a solid round. It was a bit of a rollercoaster but a tidy rollercoaster,” she said.

She briefly held a share of the on-course lead with her eagle on the par-five second hole, her 11th hole.

“I hit a really good tee shot and had a nice number for my four iron in, so just trusted it off the left with the wind from that direction. And I rolled the putt in. An easy way to make an eagle, I guess.”

Alexander is looking to become only the second multiple winner of the Joburg Ladies Open following her victory in 2021 and which would see her join Ashleigh Buhai as the only players to have achieved this.

“It’s still early days but it’s nice to shoot an under par round on day one. I had a disappointing bogey finish with a three putt, but that’s golf and it happens. I’ve hopefully got three days of good golf to come.”

At the top of the leaderboard, Laisne dropped only one shot in her round. She arrived in South Africa in terrific form having claimed her maiden victory on the Ladies European Tour in Australia in February and a runners-up finish in the Women’s Australian Open in March. She’s currently second on the Ladies European Tour Order of Merit behind Alexander and is one of the few players who chooses not to have a caddie.

“I like to do my own thing. I don’t have to worry about when the caddie is arriving at the course. I can work according to my own timing,” she said.

Loyiso Masuku, the Executive Deputy Mayor and Acting Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, officially teed off the 2026 Joburg Ladies Open.

Scores

66 - Agathe Laisne (FRA)

66 - Brianna Navarrosa (USA), Ariane Klotz (FRA)

67 - Laura Beveridge (SCO)

67 - Justice Bosio (AUS), Jess Baker (BRI)

68 - Pia Babnik (SVN)

68 - Lydia Hall (WAL), Celine Herbin (FRA)

69 - Amy Lee (USA)

69 - Emie Peronnin (FRA), Luna Sobron Galmes (ESP), Maha Haddioui (MAR), Casandra Alexander, Cara Gainer (ENG), Louisa Carlbom (SWE), Dorthea Forbrigd (NOR), Hannah Screen (ENG), Morgane Metraux (SUI), Tina Mazarino (NOR)

70 - Romy Meekers (NED)

70 - Pranavi Urs (IND), Blanca Fernandez (ESP), Alice Hewson (ENG), Nadia van der Westhuizen, Harang Lee (ESP), Vanessa Knecht (SUI), Verena Gimmy (GER), Kelsey Bennett (AUS), April Angurasaranee (THA), Camille Chevalier (FRA), Kirsten Rudgeley (AUS), Patricia Isabel Schmidt (GER), Emma Falcher (FRA), Madelene Stavnar (NOR), Chloe Salort (FRA), Sophie Witt (GER)

71 - Annabell Fuller (ENG)

71 - Ana Pelaez Trivino (ESP), Kajsa Arwefjall (SWE), Amelia Garvey (NZL), Olivia Cowan (GER), Darcey Harry (WAL), Kiera Floyd, Corinne Viden (SWE), Lily May Humphreys (ENG), Cecilie Finne-Ipsen (DEN), Sofie Kibsgaard (DEN), Danielle du Toit, Momoka Kobori (NZL), Anna Foster (IRL), Anna Zanusso (ITA), Caitlyn Macnab

72 - Ana Dawson (IMN)

72 - Tvesa Malik (IND), Emma Grechi (FRA), Thalia Martin (ENG), Gabrielle Venter, Alexandra Swayne (ISV), Lorna McClymont (SCO), Alexandra Forsterling (GER), Diksha Dagar (IND), Charlotte Heath (ENG), Aunchisa Utama (THA), Luca Thompson (WAL), Lucie Vachova (CZE), Alessia Nobilio (ITA), Meghan MacLaren (ENG), Esme Hamilton (ENG), Lee-Anne Pace, Ginnie Ding (HKG), Anna Morgan (USA), Nobuhle Dlamini (SWZ)

73 - Patricie Mackova (CZE)

73 - Cara Gorlei, Amaia Latorre (ESP), Olivia Mehaffey (NIR), Zane Kleynhans, Gudrun Bjorgvinsdottir (ISL), Anne-Charlotte Mora (FRA), Amy Taylor (ENG), Lois Lau (FRA), Celina Sattelkau (GER), Hannah Burke (ENG), Tereza Melecka (CZE)

74 - Gabriella Cowley (ENG)

74 - Hannah Darling (SCO), Carolin Kauffmann (GER), Lianna Bailey (ENG), Anna Huang (CAN), Klara Davidson Spilkova (CZE)

75 - Lisa Coetzer (a)

75 - Marianne Skarpnord (NOR), Doris Chen (TPE), Emma Spitz (AUT), Marta Martin (ESP), Avani Prashanth (IND), Katharina Mühlbauer (AUT), Marta Sanz Barrio (ESP), Ayako Uehara (JPN), Louise Rydqvist (SWE), Fernanda Lira (MEX), Gemma Clews (ENG), Amalie Leth-Nissen (DEN)

76 - Maria Parra (ESP)

76 - Emily Penttila (FIN), Stacy Bregman, Agathe Sauzon (FRA), Roberta Liti (ITA), Lucie Malchirand (FRA)

77 - Jordan Rothman

77 - Hitaashee Bakshi (IND), Sanna Nuutinen (FIN), Anne-Lise Caudal (FRA)

78 - Kaiyuree Moodley

78 - Andrea Lignell (SWE), Ellen Hume (ENG)

80 - Thalia Kirby (ENG)

80 - Hayley Davis (ENG)

81 - Aine Donegan (IRL)

The Sunshine Ladies Tour and Ladies European Tour professionals treated some of the city’s young golfers to a golf clinic at the Joburg Ladies Open.