After Agathe Laisne’s dramatic playoff win at the Joburg Ladies Open, the Ladies European Tour (LET) was in Cape Town this week for the 33rd edition of the Investec SA Women’s Open.
Staged at Royal Cape Golf Club for the first time in its illustrious history, 120 players from 35 nations teed up in the 72-hole event between April 22–26, vying for their share of €350,000.
The tournament marked the eighth stop of the LET’s 2026 global schedule and the second of two co-sanctioned events with the Sunshine Ladies Tour (SLT) in South Africa.
Set in the shadow of Table Mountain, Royal Cape Golf Club, established in 1885, is South Africa’s oldest golf club. The course had played host to no fewer than 10 South African Opens on the men’s Sunshine Tour.
A host of stars took to the fairways in Cape Town, including France’s Laisne—who was then leading the LET Order of Merit—as well as home favourite Casandra Alexander. The South African lost to Laisne in the previous week’s playoff alongside Australia’s Kirsten Rudgeley, who was also in the field that week.
Alexander was the highest-ranked player teeing up, sitting 40th in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. She had finished runner-up at the previous year’s Investec SA Women’s Open en route to winning the Sunshine Ladies Tour Order of Merit.
Also teeing up in Cape Town were past winners Alice Hewson from England (2020), Diksha Dagar from India (2019), and legendary South African Lee-Anne Pace (2014, 2015, 2017, 2021, 2022). Pace was bidding for an unprecedented sixth Investec SA Women’s Open title in her native Cape Town.
Esme Hamilton claimed the 33rd Investec SA Women’s Open following an epic battle with compatriot Cara Gainer.
On a wet and windy final day at Royal Cape Golf Club, Hamilton carded a round of 71 (-2) to secure a two-shot victory on 15-under par. The win is Hamilton’s first on the LET in just her 23rd start after joining the circuit as a rookie last year.
Here’s the prize money breakdown for each golfer at the 2026 Investec SA Women’s Open.
1 – Esme Hamilton – €52,500.00
2 – Cara Gainer – €31,500.00
3 – Pia Babnik – €21,000.00
4 – Anna Morgan – €13,066.67
4 – Brianna Navarrosa – €13,066.67
4 – Emma Spitz – €13,066.67
7 – Maha Haddioui – €8,983.33
7 – Alessandra Fanali – €8,983.33
7 – Anna Huang – €8,983.33
10 – Kajsa Arwefjall – €7,350.00
10 – Lisa Pettersson – €7,350.00
10 – Alexandra Forsterling – €7,350.00
10 – Sofie Kibsgaard – €7,350.00
10 – Annabell Fuller – €7,350.00
15 – Alice Hewson – €6,037.50
15 – Anna Foster – €6,037.50
15 – Anna Zanusso – €6,037.50
15 – Amy Lee – €6,037.50
19 – Cecilie Finne-Ipsen – €5,208.00
19 – Emma Falcher – €5,208.00
19 – Hannah Screen – €5,208.00
19 – Madelene Stavnar – €5,208.00
19 – Meghan MacLaren – €5,208.00
24 – Pranavi Urs – €4,263.00
24 – Justice Bosio – €4,263.00
24 – Corinne Viden – €4,263.00
24 – Celina Sattelkau – €4,263.00
24 – Ana Pelaez Trivino – €4,263.00
29 – Agathe Laisne – €3,353.00
29 – Amelia Garvey – €3,353.00
29 – Luna Sobron Galmes – €3,353.00
29 – Lydia Hall – €3,353.00
29 – Amaia Latorre – €3,353.00
34 – Darcey Harry – €2,835.00
34 – Sara Kouskova – €2,835.00
34 – Kirsten Rudgeley – €2,835.00
37 – Patricia Isabel Schmidt – €2,310.00
37 – Diksha Dagar – €2,310.00
37 – Roberta Liti – €2,310.00
37 – Olivia Mehaffey – €2,310.00
37 – Aine Donegan – €2,310.00
37 – Maria Parra – €2,310.00
37 – Fernanda Lira – €2,310.00
44 – Smilla Tarning Soenderby – €1,715.00
44 – Gemma Clews – €1,715.00
44 – Maddison Hinson-Tolchard – €1,715.00
44 – Dorota Zalewska – €1,715.00
44 – Momoka Kobori – €1,715.00
44 – Lois Lau – €1,715.00
50 – Emma Grechi – €1,449.00
50 – Caitlyn Macnab – €1,449.00
50 – Thalia Martin – €1,449.00
50 – Tina Mazarino – €1,449.00
50 – Alessia Nobilio – €1,449.00
55 – Nobuhle Dlamini – €1,242.50
55 – Lily May Humphreys – €1,242.50
57 – Avani Prashanth – €1,137.50
57 – Alexandra Swayne – €1,137.50
59 – Gabrielle Venter – €1,085.00
60 – Carolin Kauffmann – €1,015.00
60 – Ginnie Ding – €1,015.00
60 – Amy Taylor – €1,015.00
63 – Kiera Floyd – €927.50
63 – Luca Thompson – €927.50
65 – Lisa Coetzer (amateur) – €0
66 – Lucie Malchirand – €875.00
Follow Golf Digest Middle East on social media
Main Image: Supplied
