After 19 seasons and 251 starts, Spain’s Carmen Alonso can finally call herself a Ladies European Tour (LET) champion after clinching a dramatic maiden victory at the Ladies Open by Pickala Rock Resort.

In an epic dual with Johanna Gustavsson on the final day in Finland, Alonso fired a 68 (-4) to pip the Swede by one shot and seal her first title on 15-under-par.

“I’m really really really happy!” Alonso said. “You don’t know how much. This is my 19th year on the Tour and I never won before. I don’t have words to say!”

One behind Gustavsson before the start of play, and with round three delayed for two hours due to an electrical storm, Alonso’s task got greater on the opening hole when Gustavsson rolled in a birdie to extend her lead to two.

A couple of holes later and we had a match-play situation on our hands with Alonso birdying the par-3 3rd and Gustavsson conceding a bogey to produce a two-shot swing.

After the pair both posted red numbers on the 8th, the Spaniard birdied the next hole to take the outright lead for the first time before Gustavsson levelled the standings with a birdie on the 12th.

Onto the closing stretch, and Alonso bogeyed the 15th to hand the Swede a one-shot advantage heading into ‘death valley’ – the appropriately named tight finish at Pickala Rock Resort.

The 38-year-old said: “When I was on the 16th tee, I said to my caddie Maria [Beautell], ‘hey, three birdies, three birdies and we will win.’”

After the pair both birdied the 16th, the brutally narrow par-4 17th then proved to be the turning point as Alonso carded another birdie only for Gustavsson to make a decisive bogey.

One hole later, and a clutch up-and-down ensured Alonso was finally an LET champion with her opponent unable to convert a long birdie putt on the par-4 18th.

https://twitter.com/LETgolf/status/1675170873437814784

Alonso continued: “Obviously we only made two [birdies in the last three holes], but the 18th was a little bit unlucky because it wasn’t a bad shot from the tee but I had the tree in my line. I hit a bad shot but the short game was the best. Great.”

With the victory, Alonso now joins the LET winners’ circle after 251 appearances – the most amount of starts before a victory in the circuit’s history.

“When I put the last putt in the hole I said to my caddie I never thought this would happen.

“It means more for my coaches. For the people that have worked closely with me for all these years. They always encouraged me to continue and to do what I like to do. This is for all of them more than for me!”

Soaring up the leaderboard on day three to finish T3 were Northern Ireland’s Olivia Mehaffey and defending champion Anne-Charlotte Mora – the pair both firing superb 68s (-4) to end the week on nine-under-par.

“I putted very nicely and didn’t hit any shots that put me in a lot of trouble today,” Mehaffey said. “I’m really proud of the work I’ve done and the fact that my team have stuck by me.”

One shot back in a tie for fifth were France’s Anne-Lise Caudal, England’s Annabel Dimmock, Finland’s Linda Osala, and Austria’s Christine Wolf.

Rounding off the top-10 in T9 on seven-under-par finished home favourite Noora Kumulainen, Sweden’s Anna Magnusson, Germany’s Sophie Witt, and England’s Meghan MacLaren.

Finland’s Katri Bakker – the sister of retired LET player Krista – ended the week as the best low amateur on level-par.

With her win – worth 500 points – Alonso climbs to ninth in the 2023 Race to Costa del Sol and qualifies for this month’s Evian Championship. Spain’s Ana Peláez Trivino still leads the standings on 1,338.20 points.

After the Spaniard’s emotional victory in Finland, there is now a one week break on the LET before our stars head to London for the next Aramco Team Series event at Centurion Golf Club.

The post Alonso claims maiden Ladies European Tour title with a dramatic win in Finland appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Matt Smith
Spaniard Carmen Alonso took a one-stroke lead in the Jabra Ladies Open at Evian-Les-Bains in France on Thursday thanks to an opening five-under 66.

Alonso, 25th on the Ladies European Tour Race to Costa del Sol, had a poor start on the 15th after a shotgun start, but a birdie-par-eagle run before the turn got her in her stride and she added further birdies on the third and seventh holes before carding a second bogey on the eighth and then made further gains at the 10th and 14th.

“This course is really challenging, so you have to focus all the time. If you miss a shot, you don’t have too many chances to recover, so I’m really happy with the round,” said Alonso, now in her 18th year on the LET.

She was helped by fellow LET professional Maria Beautell on caddie duties, the pair having achieved a tie for 13th in the Comunidad de Madrid Ladies Open a fortnight ago.

“This year, I’m hitting the ball the same as in previous years but Maria is helping me around the greens, especially with the breaks,” Alonso said. “She is always positive, telling me that I am always doing a good job, so I follow her rules and it’s working.”

The winner of this week’s tournament will earn a place in the $6.5 million Evian Championship, the only Major in continental Europe, to be played in July at the same venue, and so there is fierce competition for the first prize.

Australian Whitney Hillier, who won the Team competition in last week’s Aramco Team Series— Bangkok signed for a four-under-par 67 to lie in second place alongside LET rookie Gabrielle Macdonald from Scotland.

Hillier said: “It was a pretty hot start, to be honest. I took advantage of the pure greens and just had fun out there. The course is in great condition and the weather is very nice, so I’m enjoying myself.

Johanna Gustavsson, Karolin Lampert, Carolin Kauffmann, Billie-Jo Smith and Leonie Harm are a stroke further back in a tie for fourth on three-under-par 68.

Gustavsson, who has recorded three second-place finishes already this season, commented: “I played quite solid. I hit some tee shots well and feel like I could have holed some more putts, but overall it was a nice, stress-free day.”

A win on Saturday would be a double cause for celebration for the Swede, as she will be going home to get married next weekend.

You might also like:
Top names sign up for Aramco Team Series – London 
Watch: One of the best pars in history
Manon claims first LET title at Aramco Team Series – Bangkok
Rory McIlroy swing analysis
Is Tiger’s style holding him back?
Rory leads the way at Southern Hills
Toby Bishop swapping clubs for school books
Forget Dubai, check out the prices for drinks at PGA Championship
Team Hilier triumph at Aramco Team Series — Bangkok
Sensational finish at Dubai Golf Trophy
Sergio Garcia ‘can’t wait to quit PGA Tour’
Westwood and ‘many more’ request release to play LIV Golf Invitational Series

The post Ladies European Tour: Carmen sings at Jabra Ladies Open in France appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
When Golf Saudi imagined the Aramco Team Series into existence, a key tenet of the Pro-Am concept was that the amateur attached to each of the four-person teams would get a taste of professional golf inside the ropes. Furthermore, the lucky weekend warrior would have every opportunity to contribute to the ultimate success of their three new favourite LET pros, perhaps even by sinking the winning putt.

We’re still waiting for the latter probability but for irrefutable proof of concept, kindly refer to the penultimate round of the Aramco Team Series – Jeddah on Thursday.

Belgium’s Manon De Roey captained her team to a two-stroke buffer heading into the final round of the 54-hole, $1 million event at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City. Pro team-mates Carmen Alonso (Spain) and Elina Nummenpaa (Finland) combined 13 birdies and one eagle en-route to a second-round 20-under-par total.

However, it was their 61-year-old amateur team-mate Nic Davies who stole the show. The general manager of a nearby Saudi Golf Club contributed a pair of net-eagles that proved the difference in propelling the fourball to 37-under-par overall.

The comments from the Spain-born Davies after his memorable afternoon were further vindication of the concept which is all about innovating to help increase exposure of the LET and wider women’s game.

“I’ve always followed women’s golf, so as an amateur this is just phenomenal to be part of,” said Davies who nailed the second of his net eagles on Royal Green’s 18th hole with a birdie four.

“I obviously now know Manon, Carmen and Elina quite well so if we were able to see this through, I’d be absolutely over the moon for them.

“They, to me, epitomise ladies golf. I’ve got a seven-year-old daughter who is just amazed seeing these girls whack the ball so well and so far. If I connect with the ball, I can get up there, but I’ve not nearly out-driven any of my team. It’s amazing to see up close and hopefully we continue doing well tomorrow.”

Amateur Nic Davies played a key role for Team De Roey on Thursday.

With a share of $150,000 for the winning pros, De Roey, Alonso and Nummenpaa will hope to keep the momentum going on Friday as well.

“I’m really happy with my team,” said De Roey.

“They fought really hard today. We didn’t do so well in the first nine, but we came back strong and I’m very proud of them and how we played. We love playing on this course, it’s very scoreable out there. We’ll fight tomorrow as we have a great opportunity.”

Team Kyriacou – captained by Australia’s Steph Kyriacou, with Lina Boqvist (SWE), Laura Beverage (SCO) and amateur Andreas ‘Andy’ Feller, from Switzerland – shot a series low 22-under-par in the second round to move to -35 overall.

Team Steph Kyriacou.

“Up until the last hole neither of us scored on the same holes, which is what you need in this format,” said Kyriacou. “Lina came in real clutch at the end, Laura in the middle, and Andy our amateur played well. It was Andy and I on the front then Lina and Laura on the back nine.”

Like Team De Roey, Team Kyriacou also had their amateur golfer to thank, with Feller’s eagle three on 13 giving the fourball the first net-albatross at any ATS event.

Talking through the hole, 10-handicapper Feller said: “I went driver, then hit a five-wood to eight-foot. We got a good read on the putt, the team gave me good comfort, and I holed the putt.

“That was my best ever nine holes. I’m a bit of a wildcard but it worked out for me today. Let’s do the same again tomorrow.”

In the individual format, Germany’s Olivia Cowan, meanwhile, leads the individual standings by one over Argentina’s Magdalena Simmermacher, and two clear of English pair Bronte Law and Georgia Hall.

“I’m really happy with how I’m playing at the moment,” said Cowan, who holed-out for eagle from the fairway of Royal Greens’ par-4 7th. “It’s quite steady and I’m giving myself a lot of chances to hole putts, which I think is important out here.

Germany’s Olivia Cowan is one ahead in the ATS-Jeddah’s individual standings.

“I think the relaxed team format of this event helps bring out the best in me. We as a team get on really well and are all quite chatty out there, which I like.”

The Aramco Team Series – Jeddah is the last of four new $1million team tournaments added to the Ladies European Tour this season and follows events in London, Sotogrande and New York. It climaxes on Friday.

The post With net eagles and even an albatross, a pair of amateurs hold sway in Saudi appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Golf Digest Middle East
Ayla Golf Club has become the first venue in the Middle East to sign the R&A’s Women in Golf Charter.

Unveiled by The R&A in May 2018, the Women in Golf Charter has been introduced to help foster a more inclusive culture within the game of golf and to ensure that women across the world are afforded equal opportunities to maximise their potential, both on the course and within the golf industry.

Spanish Ladies European Tour player Carmen Alonso, Saudi’s first professional golfer Othman Almulla and former Ryder Cup player Barry Lane were all on hand in Aqaba as Ayla’s Director of Operations, Chris White, confirmed the club’s support for the principles of the Charter.

It came on the eve of the inaugural Jordan Mixed Open Presented by Ayla which started Thursday. The event, the world’s first mixed open, a pioneering event that will see men and women go head-to-head over the same course, for a single prize purse and trophy, is a key part of the club’s gender equality drive.

You can watch the promo video here:

“As Jordan’s first championship course we believe that it is extremely important that we demonstrate that golf is a game that can be played by everyone, regardless of age or gender,” said White. 

“We intend for the Jordan Mixed Open to act as a catalyst to develop the sport locally and will build upon the success of the event, and the participation programmes already in place at the club, to continue to work towards growing the women’s game at the club and providing equal opportunities as an organisation.”

Ladies European Tour player Carmen Alonso, aspiring young Ayla Golf Club-member Pera Demirsoy and Chris White, the Director of Operations at Ayla Oasis, at Wednesday’s official announcement.

The ground-breaking Jordan Mixed Open will not only promote gender equality on a global stage but is also intended to empower local women and will encompass a series of talks from inspirational Jordanians who have overcome gender barriers to success in their respective fields.

Ayla’s Managing Director, Sahl Dudin, underscored that Ayla has a longstanding legacy of supporting sustainable development in Jordan, of which the promotion of gender equality is a key pillar.

“For Ayla, encouraging and supporting the participation of women in sports and other key areas of development is a crucial element in accelerating positive transformation on a grand scale, and Ayla will support all endeavours geared toward such objective,” he commented. 

R&A Chief Executive Martin Slumbers hailed Ayla’s efforts to grow female participation.

“It is important that we continue to highlight the progress being made to promote greater diversity, accessibility and inclusion within golf. Ayla Golf Club has demonstrated its commitment to supporting these aims by becoming the first venue in the Middle East region to sign up to the Women in Golf Charter as well as hosting the world’s first ever mixed professional event this week.

“Hopefully it will inspire other golf clubs to embrace the opportunities that encouraging more women and girls into the sport can bring.”

The post Ahead of pioneering Jordan Mixed Open, host club Ayla double down on women’s golf drive appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.