Nuria Iturrios Archives - Golf Digest Middle East https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/tag/nuria-iturrios/ Golf Instruction, Equipment, Courses, Travel, News Sun, 05 May 2019 07:50:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.2 https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/gd-favicon.ico Nuria Iturrios Archives - Golf Digest Middle East https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/tag/nuria-iturrios/ 32 32 Five reasons why Falcon Golf are onto a winner with the Moonlight Classic https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/five-reasons-why-falcon-golf-are-onto-a-winner-with-the-moonlight-classic/ https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/five-reasons-why-falcon-golf-are-onto-a-winner-with-the-moonlight-classic/#respond Sun, 05 May 2019 07:48:23 +0000 https://golfdigestme.com/?p=26249 We explore why the new-look Pro-Am format worked and how organisers Falcon Golf can take the world’s first professional day-night event ahead in 2020.

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Nuria Iturrios poses with the Dallah trophy after clinching the Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic at Emirates Golf Club on Friday night.

By Kent Gray
The 13th edition of Dubai’s annual Ladies European Tour stop enjoyed a grandstand finish with Spaniard Nuria Iturrios edging German’s Olivia Cowan and Esther Henesleit by a stroke on The Faldo Friday evening.

We explore why the new-look Pro-Am format worked and how organisers Falcon Golf can take the world’s first professional day-night event ahead in 2020.

The format
Moving from the garden variety 72-hole strokeplay event to a shorter Pro-Am format was a masterstroke. The LET apparently weren’t sold on the concept originally but few left Emirates Golf Club grumbling. For the 168 amateurs who played the opening 36-holes in the company of one of the event’s 56 professionals, the ‘Texas Shambles’ format was a hoot, allowing rotten shots to be quickly forgotten while they enjoyed a front row seat to the stress and strain of the pro-game. Unlike stock standard Pro-Ams on the day before a professional tournament, the Moonlight Classic allowed the lucky ams to see the pros with their game-faces on and ride the emotional roller-coaster of putts holed and missed, the latter costing potentially thousands of euros. It was a unique, money-can’t-buy experience that was particularly memorable for Camille Chevalier’s team with the Frenchwoman leading Caroline Rosenstock (17 handicap), Glory Xavier (6) and Ashok Sindhu (3) to a mightily impressive 246 total over 36 holes – 42-under-par. They edged the team captained by LET life member Trish Johnson on a countback.

Champions: The winner Pro-Am team, captained by French pro Camille Chevalier (second from right) included Glory Xavier (6 handicap) Caroline Rosenstock (17) and Ashok Sindhu (3).

The Faldo
All 12 previous LET events in Dubai were staged on the Majlis course at Emirates G.C., the number one ranked layout in the most recent Golf Digest Middle East Top-10 courses ranking. The move to The Faldo made a refreshing change, showcasing just how lucky we are in the UAE – the Faldo doesn’t rate in the top-10 but offers a stiff, strategic challenge that arguably surpasses many above it.

A doff of our cap to Dubai Golf Director of Golf Course Maintenance Matthew Perry and his team on turning The Faldo out in pristine condition. The greens were grainy, took plenty of break at the hole and weren’t as fast as they looked – they never are on the Faldo – but it was just about perfect given the Pro-Am mix of abilities. That tartan striping on the fairways sure looked good for those lucky enough to enjoy the hospitality suite – nicknamed the toaster because of its shape and especially so if you couldn’t park yourself in front of one of the air conditioning units – above the 18th green.

New lights, more cameras needed, great action
Playing a professional event in the heat of May was a gamble but how good were those images of The Faldo under lights, particularly with the sparkling Marina skyline as a backdrop?

A major part of the Moonlight Classic’s remit was to showcase Dubai Golf’s night offering and show potential tourists the UAE golf season extends well beyond the window between the European Tour’s DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates in November and the Omega Dubai Desert Classic in late-January. Job done. Well, partly.

The lack of TV cameras was a disappointment, albeit probably a smart financial decision. There will apparently be a highlights show produced for worldwide distribution but going forward it would be great if the pros play one at least one round entirely under lights, as opposed to the three or four holes this time, and especially if it is captured live. The logistics might prevent that – the still photographers on site struggled to produce quality imagery after dark despite the Faldo’s brilliant new LED lights. But a late finish in Dubai would be ideal timing for European viewers, the very tourists the game here so covets. Even new champion Nuria Iturrios would like to see it: “It would be so fun, so yeah, it could be a good option.”

Nuria Iturrios
Let’s not sugar coat things. The field for the Moonlight Classic lacked big-name appeal, save for Cheyenne Woods whose major contribution aside from some welcomed pre-event PR, was an ace on The Faldo’s second hole, a six iron from 169 yards, in the final round. The niece of you know who finished T-47 among the 56 professionals. At 128th, Swede Caroline Hedwall was the highest ranked player as big names such as Georgia Hall, Ann Van Dam and Aditi Ashok either decided to stay away or play on the richer LPGA Tour. Indeed, the LET is desperate for new players to give the tour some much-needed star appeal. Step forward Nuria Iturrios. With rounds of 67-68-71 on The Faldo, the 23-year-old Spaniard joined a rare-band of back-to-back LET winners following her triumph at the Lalla Meryem Cup the previous week. Iturrios now enjoys a handy 131-point lead over Marianne Skarpnord in the Order of Merit race and the Norwegian, with seven starts, has played four more events than Iturrios.

Iturrios scooped 105 OOM points and €38,193 for her victory and the potential for the LET’s PR team is priceless if the bubbly youngster can keep the momentum going. We loved her honestly throughout the event, including the gem about her loving bunker shots, not something you’d have heard from many of the amateurs in the field.
“I think I’ll have to go home and realise what I did,” Iturrios said after hoisting the Dallah trophy and adding her name alongside the likes of Annika Sörenstam, Lexi Thompson and four-time champion Shanshan Feng
“I’m so nervous now and so excited. It’s amazing to win again and the work is great, so let’s keep going. It was so cool [the format]. I really liked it and I hope next year it will be the same and I will come back for sure.”

Social Media
With no live TV footage, Falcon Golf and the LET had to work hard to drum up publicity.
Paige Spiranac was flown in from the U.S. by the former and hosted the winner of a global competition, Washington DC amateur Sara Wiedenhaefer, in a round on The Faldo along with Ryder Cupper Rafa Cabrera Bello and the head of the Saudi Golf Federation, Majed Al-Sorour.

Spiranac also enjoyed some light-hearted fun under the lights earlier in the week. Check it out here:

But for the best social media of the week, look no further than this viral “Lights Out!” effort from the LET’s media team.

Night Golf, Nailed It! Indeed.

 

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]]> https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/five-reasons-why-falcon-golf-are-onto-a-winner-with-the-moonlight-classic/feed/ 0 Moonlight Classic: Back-to-back for Nuria? https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/moonlight-classic-back-to-back-for-nuria/ https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/moonlight-classic-back-to-back-for-nuria/#respond Thu, 02 May 2019 19:39:08 +0000 https://golfdigestme.com/?p=26218 (Photo by Tristan Jones/LET) Nuria Iturrios and Esther Henseleit top a cluttered leaderboard heading into the final round of the Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic. By Kent Gray Nuria Iturrios has a shot at joining a rare band of back-to-back Ladies European Tour winners but knows the game of golf, not to mention a quartet of […]

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Nuria Iturrios and Esther Henseleit top a cluttered leaderboard heading into the final round of the Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic.

By Kent Gray
Nuria Iturrios has a shot at joining a rare band of back-to-back Ladies European Tour winners but knows the game of golf, not to mention a quartet of pursuers desperately chasing their maiden wins, will ensure her bid for a place in the history books is anything but a cinch.

The 23-year-old Spaniard starts the final round of the $285,000 Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic tied atop the leaderboard with German Esther Henseleit at -9 and has the advantage of being the only player in the top five to have won on tour, as recently as last week at the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco. Another German, Olivia Cowan, is third a shot further back while compatriot Karolin Lampert and first-round leader Leona Maguire are at -6 and -5 respectively.

Iturrios would become the first player since India’s Aditi Ashok in 2016 to capture back-to-back titles if she can get over the line today. But given the low scoring for two-thirds of the new-look 54-hole Pro-Am thus far, the six players within five strokes of Iturrios and Henseleit will fancy their chances in Friday’s final round. Even Thai Kanyalak Preedasuttijit, Swede Caroline Hedwall and Finn Noora Komulainen at -4 have given themselves an outside shot.

“It would be awesome, of course, but it’s still 18 holes to play and you never know. It’s golf…” said Iturrios before reflecting on her second round of 68.

“So I want to enjoy it. I want to relax and prepare my mind for tomorrow. I didn’t see the scores, but I’m still feeling good, so let’s keep going.”

Iturrios has only signed for two birdies in the opening 36 holes and has played her last six rounds, including the four en-route to victory in Rabat, in a thoroughly impressive 32-under-par. She certainly seems to have all facets of her game in fine shape.

“I made two birdies from really good bunker shots on holes 10 and 13 [yesterday], where I can reach the greens in two. I love bunker shots, so that’s fine for me. I made some putts and missed some, so we’ll see for tomorrow.”

Henseleit produced the lowest round on Thursday which is even more notable given her 66 included a double bogey on the par-3 17th when she splashed out of a greenside bunker and three-putted. But with four top-10s already in her rookie campaign, the 20-year-old is clearly in a good space.

“My long game is really solid and my ball striking is really good, so my swing is feeling good. I just felt like I could attack some pins and also putted really well, so I had a lot of birdies,” Henseleit said.

“Sadly I had a double bogey on 17, which was not that good, but that happens. I’m still quite happy about my round.”

Claiming a first LET win would obviously be something else to get excited about, not that Henseleit is getting ahead of herself.

“It would mean everything. I think everyone wants to win and to do this in your first year is really good, but there is still one day to go and I’m not thinking of the win. I want to do my best and see what happens.”

Cowan carded a 70 to go with her opening 66 and would love to claim her maiden win in Dubai given her close connections to the Emirate, including a sponsorship deal with JA The Resort.

“I want to go out and play good golf and see what happens: hopefully win.

It would mean the world. It would be amazing. I’ve been close a few times and I’m just waiting for that one little step. It would be amazing, here in Dubai, with my sponsors.”

Leona Maguire is perhaps the closest player to Iturrios and Henseleit with the most to prove. After her sizzling course record 64 on Wednesday, the 24-year-old Irishwoman stuttered to a 75 in the second round – an 11 shot reserve which saw her slide to fifth overnight.

“I didn’t give myself many chances today,” said the former world amateur No.1 before getting into some of the ugly specifics. “On seven, I wanted to hit 7-wood, my caddie wanted me to hit a 9 and I hit a 9 in the water [en-route to a double bogey], which was quite annoying to finish with.

“I didn’t give myself enough chances and didn’t hole any putts, so no birdies today. I need to play a lot better tomorrow and hit my irons better to give myself some more chances.”

 

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]]> https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/moonlight-classic-back-to-back-for-nuria/feed/ 0 Henseleit makes moving day charge at Moonlight Classic, shares early second round lead with in-form Nuria Iturrios https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/henseleit-makes-moving-day-charge-at-moonlight-classic-shares-early-second-round-lead-with-in-form-nuria-iturrios/ https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/henseleit-makes-moving-day-charge-at-moonlight-classic-shares-early-second-round-lead-with-in-form-nuria-iturrios/#respond Thu, 02 May 2019 10:05:52 +0000 https://golfdigestme.com/?p=26214 Germany’s Esther Henseleit has made the most significant morning charge on moving day at the Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic.

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Esther Henseleit in action during the second round at Emirates Golf Club.

By Kent Gray
Germany’s Esther Henseleit has made the most significant morning charge on moving day at the Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic.

A second round 66, six-under, on the Faldo course at Emirates Golf Club has moved the 20-year-old into a share of the lead at –9 alongside last week’s Lalla Meryem Cup champion Nuria Iturrios after the Spaniard carded a 68.

Overnight leader Leona Maguire has slipped four shots off pace following a 75 – a score 11 shots worse than her course–record 64 on Wednesday. The 24-year-old Irishwoman is currently 4th on –5 for the championship.

German Olivia Cowan occupies third place on –8 after adding a 70 to her opening 66.

Henseleit, who is chasing her maiden Ladies European Tour victory, had been eight under par through 15 holes of her second round but a double bogey on the Faldo’s par-3 17th, when she dumped her tee shot into a bunker and three putted after splashing out, curtailed the German’s momentum with Maguire’s course record in her sights.

The afternoon shotgun group – the other half of the 56 pros playing this week’s Pro-Am, head out for their second rounds at 3pm. Stay tuned to Golf Digest Middle East for full coverage of the $285,000 Ladies European Tour event.

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]]> https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/henseleit-makes-moving-day-charge-at-moonlight-classic-shares-early-second-round-lead-with-in-form-nuria-iturrios/feed/ 0 #ODMC2019: New LET order of merit leader Nuria Iturrios keeping calm and carrying on in Dubai https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/odmc2019-nurias-keeping-calm-and-carrying-on/ https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/odmc2019-nurias-keeping-calm-and-carrying-on/#respond Wed, 01 May 2019 02:00:28 +0000 https://golfdigestme.com/?p=26151 The new LET Order-of-Merit leader likes what she sees at Emirates Golf Club.

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]]> (Photo by Tristan Jones/LET)

The new LET Order-of-Merit leader likes what she sees at Emirates Golf Club.

By Kent Gray
A reconnaissance lap of the Faldo course has given Nuria Iturrios a booster shot of something she has in abundance heading into the Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic.

As the Ladies European Tour’s latest winner, the 23-year-old Spaniard oozes confidence coming into the new 54-hole Pro-Am. Following her opening practice round in Dubai after winning last week’s Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco, her stocks seem to have risen even further.

“I really like it,” Nuria said of the event’s new 6300 yard, par-72 layout after the LET’s previous 12 events in Dubai were held on Emirates Golf Club’s neighbouring Majlis layout.

“The par 5s are easy to reach in two, so that’s great for me; I really like that. There is one short par 4, the 13th, which I can reach in one shot and the par 3s are interesting because they are not that long, but these greens are difficult to hit it where you need to go, because there are a lot of breaks.

“I think we had a good training last week in Morocco, where the greens were sloping and tricky too. There are some breaks which you can’t see from the fairway, so you have to have a good strategy.”

While the 285 yard 13th will be in reach in the right conditions – she averaged 269 yards off the tee in Rabat – Iturrios’ winning formula last week paid more to precision. How about driving accuracy a whisker under 85 per cent which led to a 74 per cent greens in regulation return, 18 birdies and a final, title-clinching 13-under-par total?

A repeat of those impressive stats won’t be easily achieved of course but Iturrios seems to have that covered too courtesy of a relaxed attitude.

“Over three days, the winning score here could be 13-under or 14-under, because the par-5s are easier to reach [than in Morocco]. But this is another tournament and another week and another experience for me. I just want to enjoy it.

“I worked really hard in the off-season, so my game is really solid now. My putting is so good. The chipping is good too, so I just want to enjoy it and keep calm.”

That said… “It would be fun to win again.”

Indeed, a Solheim Cup debut beckons at Gleneagles in Scotland if Iturrios can keep the momentum going but September, it seems, isn’t on her immediate radar.

“I have the Solheim Cup in mind but I’m only 23 years old, so if it happens this year it’s going to be great, but if not, it will be a goal for the next few years.”

 

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]]> https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/odmc2019-nurias-keeping-calm-and-carrying-on/feed/ 0 #ODMC2019: Spanish eyes smiling on Nuria Iturrios https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/odmc2019-spanish-eyes-smiling-on-nuria-iturrios/ https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/odmc2019-spanish-eyes-smiling-on-nuria-iturrios/#respond Tue, 30 Apr 2019 09:20:03 +0000 https://golfdigestme.com/?p=26135 (Photo by Tristan Jones/LET) There’s a new LET Order of Merit leader heading into the $285,000 Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic. By Kent Gray Nuria Iturrios marked herself as an early favourite for the new-look Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic after clinching the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco for the second time in four years on Sunday […]

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]]> (Photo by Tristan Jones/LET)

There’s a new LET Order of Merit leader heading into the $285,000 Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic.

By Kent Gray
Nuria Iturrios marked herself as an early favourite for the new-look Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic after clinching the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco for the second time in four years on Sunday to reach the summit of the Ladies European Tour (LET) Order of Merit standings.

The 23-year-old Spaniard waltzed to a seven-stroke victory over Swedes Caroline Hedwall and Lina Boqvist to back up her victory in 2016 as an LET rookie, also on the Blue Course at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam.

Iturrios brings impressive form to the Faldo course for this week’s 54-hole Moonlight Classic Pro-Am. The Palma de Mallorca pro was the only player in Rabat to record four sub-par rounds after closing with a three-under 70 to finish 13-under-par for the championship.

“It’s amazing for me to win again here,” said Iturrios who tied for second in the Australian Ladies Open at Bonville Golf Resort earlier this year. “I’m so happy to be here and I hope to keep it going.”

With coach Jose Luis Palacios on her bag in Rabat, as he was in 2016, Iturrios leapfrogged Marianne Skarpnord atop of the OOM standings after the Norwegian finished in a four-way share of fourth. Iturrios also jumped 29 places up to ninth place on the European Solheim Cup points list, boosting her chances of qualification for the biennial transatlantic matches at Gleneagles in Scotland this September.

Boqvist took comfort from posting her career-best finish in five years on tour, moving up to fifth on the OOM, while Hedwall made a significant advancement up the Solheim Cup standings into fifth spot.

Esther Henseleit, who joined Skarpnord, Laura Fuenfstueck and Hannah Burke in the tie for fourth, went atop the Rookie-of-the-Year standings courtesy of her fourth top-10 finish in five starts this season. Swede Jenny Haglund capped her Lalla Meryem Cup title defence in style by posting a course-record nine-under-par 64, which included a hole-in-one, to tie for eighth place alongside Charlotte Thompson, Sarah Kemp and rookie Sian Evans.

Later in the day, Jorge Campillo completed a Spanish double when he won the European Tour’s Trophee Hassan II on the neighbouring Red course at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam.

 

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