Magdalena Simmermacher Archives - Golf Digest Middle East

Simmermacher aims to add another trophy after Aramco Team Series success in Hong Kong

Golf Digest Middle East — Fri, 13 Oct 2023 06:57:07 +0000

Magdalena Simmermacher finally got her hands on a trophy for the first time since she turned professional in 2019.

The Argentine player was part of the winning Team Napoleaova at the Aramco Team Series — Hong Kong.

Over the two days at Hong Kong Golf Club, the quartet of Kristyna Napoleaova, Laura Fuenfstueck, Simmermacher and amateur John Hyun posted a total of 31-under-par to win by one stroke.

This was a highlight for the 27-year-old, who has been playing on both the LET and LPGA Tour in 2023.

“So I was playing on the LPGA, and this was a week that I would be in the field, and I just really wanted to come here,” she said.

“I wanted to play in the Aramco Team Series because I enjoy them very much, and I just had a good feeling I was losing my card over there, but I was just like, I want to come here.”

Simmermacher, who has recorded 15 top-10 finishes on the LET, has previously been a Team captain at these events but that wasn’t the case this time around.

And the Argentine wasn’t even a captain’s pick, instead being randomly allocated to Team Napoleaova — despite her playing a practice round with the captain.

But having finished second in the Team event at the Aramco Team Series — Bangkok last year, Simmermacher was thrilled to be able to get the win in Hong Kong.

She explained: “I want to see how I can do there. I was just very excited to come here and to actually get the win. I’ve been dreaming of this a long time since we started three years ago.

“We’ve come close, and I came close as a team captain, and this time, I wasn’t a team captain, and I wasn’t even picked. I was like, wow, how low do I have to go for no one to even pick me?

“I thought I’m just going to go and go very low and try to win it as a team and I was just very lucky to have them. They were a great team. I’m very happy to win it. It’s a team, but it’s my first professional win.”

Magdalena Simmermacher. LET

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Ladies European Tour race is on for Swedish stars at Skafto Open

Matt Smith — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 12:13:31 +0000

Linn Grant (Photo by Tristan Jones/LET)

By Matt Smith
The Ladies European Tour Skafto Open takes on more significance than usual this week as two local players will be fighting on two fronts.

Set in Fiskebäckskil area on Sweden’s west coast at Skafto Golf Club, the $250,000 event sees the two leading lights in this season’s LET Race to Costa Del Sol vying for victory on home soil.

France’s Pauline Roussin-Bouchard will be out to defend the crown she won 12 months ago for her maiden LET title, but a lot of the talk amid a stellar field will centre on Sweden’s own Maja Stark, the Race leader, and Linn Grant, her nearest challenger.

The Swedish West Coast ?#RaiseOurGame | #skaftopen

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) August 23, 2022

Both Stark and Grant made their LET debuts on this course last year, with Grant finishing in a tie for second, one stroke behind Roussin-Bouchard alongside Magdalena Simmermacher.

Simmermacher will be back and ready to challenge at the top of the leaderboard once again this week, with the Argentine still searching for her first win on tour, while Lee-Anne Pace, Ana Peláez Trevino and Meghan Maclaren will also be teeing it up. Lydia Hall and Whitney Hillier both finished in the top 10 around this track last year, and both will be ready to compete once again, with Hillier looking to maintain her place in the top 10 of the Race to Costa Del Sol rankings.

As well as Grant and Stark, there will be a raft of Swedes looking to impress on home soil this week, with six-time LET winner Caroline Hedwall among those in the field, as well as Jessica Karlsson, Camilla Lennarth, Linda Wessberg and Lina Boqvist.

Louise Duncan will also be looking to impress this week, with the Scot coming into the tournament off the back of an impressive professional debut at the AIG Women’s Open earlier this month where she finished in the top 20.

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Ladies European Tour: Carlota Ciganda claims victory in roller-coaster final round at Estrella Damm Ladies Open in Spain

Matt Smith — Sun, 10 Jul 2022 20:55:59 +0000

By Matt Smith
Carlota Ciganda claimed a wire-to-wire victory on home soil in the Ladies European Tour Estrella Damm Ladies Open outside Barcelona on Sunday, but it was not without any lack of drama.

The 34-year-old from Pamplona won this event in 2019 and needed all her experience and nerve to hold of a pack including Scotland’s Laura Beveridge, Swedish pair Maja Stark and Elin Arvidsson and Argentine Magdalena Simmermacher, who was ahead in the final round at one point, despite Ciganda going into the day with a four-stroke advantage.

But the Spaniard clung on to claim a two-stroke lead from Beveridge on 18-under, with Arvidsson and Simmermacher tied for third at Club de Golf Terramar.

The five-time Solheim Cup player said afterwards: “Winning is never easy”, and she had to dig deep to hold off the chasing pack.

Simmermacher picked up shots at the first and third holes and then made a run of four straight birdies from the eighth through to the 11th to gain the outright lead after Ciganda double-bogeyed the ninth hole.

However, a three-putt bogey from Simmermacher on the long 12th hole ended her rally and from that point, Ciganda fought for every single shot and cries of “Vamos” echoed around the course.

Ciganda birdied the 12th and made a great sand save at the 13th, holing a clutch putt from 20 feet. Although she lipped out and made a bogey on 14, she closed out in some style, with an eagle on 16, a birdie on 17 and then a bogey on 18 for a final round of 70 and a 72-hole total of 270 for 18-under.

A relieved Ciganda was on cloud nine after lifting another title on home soil, having also won the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de Espana in November. She said: “I love playing here in Spain and winning here is always special. My family is here and I have lots of support. There is always extra motivation to win here and I love it. It’s great.

“Winning is never easy. I started with a birdie on the first hole, bogeyed number two and then good birdies on the par fives. I just hit a bad tee shot on nine and that cost me a double. It was a little shaky and it wasn’t easy but I’m very happy with how I handled myself. That eagle on 16 was amazing and then a birdie on the next one.

“I looked at the leaderboard on 11 and I just thought, if you do what you need to do, you are going to be fine. I didn’t look too much, but I did see on 17 that I was two or three ahead, so that was nice.”

Beveridge, who fired a 66, settled for second, a week after her tie for fourth in the Amundi German Masters.

“I’ve just really enjoyed this week from the word go,” she said. “I’ve had my husband, Keil, on the bag, and we’ve been working a lot on rhythm and how I am on the golf course, trying to be super relaxed. I think Spain is a perfect place to do that, you know, have a plate of tapas in the evening and maybe a glass of wine. I just took it easy this week.

“My putting has improved and I’m more comfortable on the golf course. Everyone takes time to find themselves and how they are as a pro and it’s just nice being me on the course. I can show emotion, react how I want to, I’m quite friendly and chatty on the golf course and it’s just accepting that that’s the way I want to play. It’s nice that I can now perform within myself.”

Simmermacher added: “I played really well all day and in the middle of the round I had a good birdie run going on. I would just step over the ball and make the putt, but then the three-putt on number 12 put me down a bit. I played good golf for the rest of the round but didn’t make the putts. I had some good saves and my brother, Santiago, was watching from outside the ropes. He said that I was still going for the pins on every hole and that’s why I had some really tough up and downs. Once I had lost the lead, I wanted to get it back, so I kept going for the pins and I ended up in the worst places possible, but I managed to save pars from a lot of places, so I’m happy.”

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WATCH: Highlights of the Ladies European Tour Estrella Damm Ladies Open

Matt Smith — Sun, 10 Jul 2022 10:49:11 +0000

By Matt Smith
Catch up with the latest highlights from the Estrella Damm Ladies Open in Spain, where home hope Carlota Ciganda and Argentina’s Magdalena Simmermacher are fighting for the title.

Watch below

[parone_video_player campaign=”313″ defaultlang=”en” feed=”51-all-videos”/]

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Ladies European Tour: Dubai-based Kristyna Napoleaova flies home flag in strong field at Czech Ladies Open

Matt Smith — Thu, 23 Jun 2022 08:50:11 +0000

Kristyna Napoleaova. LET

By Matt Smith
The Ladies European Tour heads to Beroun in the Czech Republic, with Dubai-based Kristyna Napoleaova flying the flag for the host nation in a 130-strong field at the Czech Ladies Open.

The 54-hole event begins on Friday, with prize money of €200,000 on offer at Royal Beroun Golf Club.

Napoleaova is one of 16 Czech players in the field, and the 26-year-old has had a great start to life on the LET, sitting fourth in the Rookie of the Year standings, a T2 finish at the Aramco Saudi Ladies International and T9 at the Joburg Ladies Open.

Another home favourite is Sara Kouskova, who won the 2021 Amundi Czech Ladies Challenge on the LET Access Series, and she turned professional a few weeks ago.

Among the big guns are three-time LET winner Meghan MacLaren from England, Sweden’s Johanna Gustavsson, who is third in the 2022 Race to Costa del Sol, and Argentina’s Magdalena Simmermacher, who sits fifth in the rankings.

Germany’s Leonie Harm finished third at the 2021 edition of the tournament, just two strokes behind winner Atthaya Thitikul. And the 24-year-old will be hoping to find that form once again and add to her one top-10 finish so far this season.

Wales’ Becky Brewerton is also competing after her T6 at the Aramco Team Series – London.

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Ladies European Tour: Laura Davies dusts off clubs for Mithra Belgian Ladies Open

Matt Smith — Wed, 25 May 2022 10:34:50 +0000

Maja Stark. LET

By Matt Smith
While the DP World Tour boys are teeing it up in the Dutch Open at Bernardus Golf, the Ladies European Tour is taking place almost directly due south over the Netherlands border in Belgium from Friday to Sunday.

Following Tiia Koivisto’s triumph over Whitney Hillier at the Jabra Ladies Open in France last week, the carnival heads on to Belgium for the Mithra Ladies Open.

A strong field of 126 players representing 28 nations will be competing at Naxhelet Golf Club, near Liege.

The first event in Belgium since 1995 will be a familiar homecoming of sorts for one of the veterans of the game as Laura Davies — the winner of the first Belgian Open -back in 1985 — will dust off the clubs to compete.

The legend will be in good company alongside fellow English veteran Trish Johnson and a host of recent winners on the LET, including Lee-Anne Pace (SA Women’s Open), Maja Stark (Women’s NSW Open), Meghan MacLaren (Australian Women’s Classic), Linn Grant (Joburg Ladies Open) and Manon De Roey (Aramco Team Series – Bangkok).

De Roey leads the home charge of nine Belgian players and is joined by Charlotte De Corte, Lien Willems, Ellen Smets and Laura Gonzalez Escallon alongside amateurs Sophie Bert, Elise Bishop, Louise Cuyvers and Savannah De Bock.

Race to Costa del Sol leader Stark and Argentina’s Magdalena Simmermacher will also fancy their chances of adding to their trophy haul.

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