DORSET'S Georgia Hall made a sensational start in her bid to record a maiden victory on the Ladies European Tour.

Hall carded a superb seven-under-par 65 in her first round at the Andalucia Costa del Sol Open de España Femenino today.

And an eagle three at the par-five last propelled her to the top of the leaderboard, alongside early pacesetter Natalia Escuriola Martinez from Spain.

Hall made something of an inauspicious start when she reached the turn in level par after birdies at the first and fifth had been offset by bogeys at the second and ninth.

However, she certainly took a liking to the back nine at Real Club de Golf Guadalmina in Malaga – with five birdies and an eagle seeing her come back in just 30 shots.

She said: "I don’t even know what I was doing on the front nine to be honest. My head was not there and my golf was not there at all.

"I did well to make the turn in level par because I had some horrendous shots in there. I pulled a couple on the first two or three holes about 15 yards left, which got my head a bit frazzled.

"On the back nine, I thought, 'right, I’m going to get five birdies here to get to five-under'.

"Then, I managed to have a good eagle on the last so, on the back nine, I played really well."

Wimborne-based Hall is currently enjoying her best run of form since turning professional three years ago.

And her exploits in Spain have left her in good shape to finally break her win duck and finish top of the LET order of merit.

Over the past few weeks, the former Oakmead College student has finished tied third at the Ricoh British Open, claimed a share of 10th at the Evian Championship – both Majors on the women’s circuit – and made her debut for Europe in the Solheim Cup.

Hall, who has banked more than 300,000 euro in prize money this season, is currently third in the order of merit, behind Sweden's Anna Nordqvist and In-Kyung Kim of Korea.

She starts her second round from the 10th alongside Malaga-born Azahara Munoz and Celine Herbin from France at 8.41am in the morning.