ALTHOUGH seven out of 10 of the last European Solheim Cup team

equalled or bettered the par of 72 in the first round of the Skoda

Women's Scottish Open Golf Championship yesterday at Dalmahoy, all their

accumulated experience was upstaged with cheerful impudence by a

21-year-old Spanish golfer playing in only her sixth professional

tournament.

Estefania Knuth's 67, five under the par of the 6202-yard East course,

gave her a one-stroke lead over Sweden's Lotte Neumann, Karen Lunn, the

Australian holder of the British Open title, and a Dane Karina Orum.

Among those on 69 were Dale Reid, the leading Scot, Laura Davies and

Florence Descampe.

Helen Alfredsson was on 70, and Alison Nicholas and Catrin Nilsmark,

both on 72, a stroke ahead of Trish Johnson. However, Pamela Wright and

Kitrina Douglas, on 74 and 77 respectively, seemed in more danger of

losing touch with the front-runners. Monifieth's Katheryn Marshall, on

71 after an eagle 3 at the ninth, gave supported to Reid's challenge.

Knuth, whose German father accounts for her name and the blonde hair

unusual for an Iberian, had a successful amateur career, including

membership of Spain's team which won the 1992 world championship in

Vancouver. She left university in Barcelona in mid-stream for the

peripatetic life of the Tour.

Already Knuth has encountered peaks and troughs -- in her last two

events finishing eighth and seventeenth, but being disqualified in

Ireland after having played the wrong ball and driven off the next tee

before she realised her mistake. Still, an average of #2000 a tournament

represents a fair rate of return for one so new to this level.

As dull, humid, and still conditions gave way to bright weather, Knuth

prospered. Two over after five, she had birdies at five of the next

seven holes, and after having paused for breath, Knuth pitched close for

three more birdies in the last five.

The rewarding longevity of Reid's career is in striking contrast --

aged 35 with a record 21 European victories since 1980, the last three

years ago. A damaged left thumb, operated on last December, and a

fragile putting stroke both withstood the test.

They had to. Reid had four bunker shots over the opening three holes,

where she was already two over par, and would have been three but for a

15-foot putt for a bogey 6 at the first. But she played the remaining

holes in five under, an inward 33 smudged only by a bogey at the

seventeenth after a bunkered tee-shot.

Neumann, like her compatriot Alfredsson a winner on both sides of the

Atlantic this season, came home in 32, three successive birdies from the

turn happening so quickly she was back in contention almost before she

knew it. Neumann, incidentally, has discarded the No.2 and No.3-irons in

favour of a Nos.3, 5, and 7-woods.

Lunn, the winner of last year's order of merit who defends the British

title next week, has run into sufficiently impressive form recently to

encourage Davies, an inveterate punter, to back her with #50 at 16-1, a

price now six points shorter.

Orum, at 27 in only her second season on the Tour, finished 118th in

her first tournament of 1993 and joint runner-up in her last, hit ''not

a lot of good shots, but a lot of good putts,'' perhaps because she was

breaking in a new set of irons. Having been twice in the first 10

already this year, Orum is to be reckoned with.

The more so must be Davies, whose powerful and accurate tee-shots laid

the foundation of her score. She rounded off her 69 with a 263-yard

driver ''off the deck'' at the 307-yard last and pitched to eight feet.

Not all was as plain sailing, though. Sweden's Katarina Michols took

13 at the short seventh -- including four shots in a bunker and two

penalty shots when one recovery rebounded on to her -- to be out in 50.

She retired three holes later. Caroline Hall totted up a nine at the

twelfth, where she took five in a greenside bunker -- ''taking my time

with the last three shots.''

Leading scores

(* denotes amateur)

67 -- E Knuth (Spain).

68 -- K Orum (Denmark), L Neumann (Sweden), K Lunn (Australia).

69 -- F Descampe (Belgium), C Hjalmarsson (Sweden), D Reid, L Davies,

S Waugh (Australia), W Doolan (Australia).

70 -- L Hackney, H Alfredsson (Sweden), F Dassu (Italy), P

Grice-Whittaker, L Maritz-Atkins (S Africa).

71 -- C Hall, S Hodge, P Meunier (France), C Dibnah (Australia), J

Geddes (USA), K Marshall, C Figg-Currier (USA), S Gautrey (Australia).

72 -- L Lambert (Australia), A Nicholas, L Fairclough, C Nilsmark

(Sweden), E Orley (Switerland), J Morley, H Dobson, X Wunsch (Spain), A

Radford, M Burstrom (Sweden), M Hageman (Holland), J Furby, R Hast, M de

Boer (Holland), J Mills (Australia), F Fehlauer (Germany), K Espinasse

(France), K Cayce (USA), S Robinson, D Dowling, K Cornelius (USA), K

Pearce (Australia).

Other scores included:

73 -- T Johnson, M-L de Lorenzi (France), H Wadsworth, A Shapcott, T

Craik. D Patterson (USA), E-J Smith.

74 -- P Rizzo (USA), P Wright, J Forbes.

76 -- D Barnard, E Farquharson-Black, J Soulsby.

77 -- K Douglas, *V Melvin, J Kinloch.

78 -- K Davies, *A Rose.

79 -- C Panton-Lewis, B New.

81 -- G Stewart.

83 -- *F McKay.

TOP TEE-OFF TIMES

11.40 -- Patricia Meunier, Mardi Lunn, Karina Orum. 11.50 -- Lisa

Hackney, Loraine Lambert, Kitrina Douglas. 12.0 -- Corinne Dibnah, Trish

Johnson, Marie Laure de Lorenzi. 12.10 -- Alison Nicholas, Lora

Fairclough, Florence Descampe. 12.20 -- Jane Geddes, Catrin Nilsmark,

Helen Wodsworth. 12.30 -- Evelyn Orley, Patti Rizzo, Sandrine Mendiburu.

12.40 -- Lotte Neumann, Karin Hjalmarsson, Kathryn Marshall. 12.50 --

Dale Reid, Helen Alfredsson, Laura Davies. 1.0 -- Joanne Morley, Karen

Lunn, Pamela Wright. 1.10 -- Krystal Parker, Julie Forbes, Cindy

Figg-Currier. 1.20 -- Estefania Knuth, Allison Shapcott, Susan Moon.