Women's Irish Open Archives - Golf Digest Middle East

India’s Dagar shines on day one of Irish Open

Golf Digest Middle East — Fri, 01 Sep 2023 07:34:52 +0000

Diksha Dagar. LET

Diksha Dagar was the star of the show at Dromoland Castle as the Indian youngster fired an opening round of 65 to take the lead on seven-under at the KPMG Women’s Irish Open at Dromoland Castle.

The two-time LET winner was bogey-free on day one of the competition as she began her round on the 10th tee.

Dagar rolled in back-to-back birdies on 11 and 12 before doing it again on holes 15 and 16 and she made three further birdies on holes two, five and nine.

“It has been a long season, I was taking one shot at a time and not taking it too seriously today,” said the Indian star, who is fifth in the 2023 Race to Costa del Sol.

“I had seven birdies. I had a good day and I’m happy to see myself keeping with the good momentum that I’ve got.

“I am still very good from tee to the green, but at the beginning of the season, I was struggling on the greens. It was a matter of time; I have been practicing a lot, taking one shot at a time and reading the lines and I have improved in my putting.

“I was thinking this golf course is tough, so I just took it one shot at a time because every shot counts. It was a good day and very surprising. I have been having the same mentality and every year my game improves and so does my thinking process. The more you play, the better you get.”

American Gurleen Kaur and France’s Emma Grechi sit in a tie for second place on six-under at Dromoland Castle.

Kaur, who is in her rookie season on the LET, had only one dropped shot on her scorecard and rolled in seven birdies for her round of 66.

“It was good, I putted really well, and I was able to hit the ball well,” said Kaur. “I actually didn’t play the par-fives that well, so I feel I left a couple out there, but otherwise it was a really good starting day.

“In a couple of places, I had more spin than I thought I was going to. It was very much on and off with the rain, but overall, I think we got pretty lucky and it wasn’t heavy at all. It felt like a good day, and it got hot when the same came out.

“I felt good about my game, I was coming in with no expectations because I haven’t been playing much LET this year. I was supposed to in May, and I got injured a little bit and decided to stay and play more Epson events.

“I played well last week, a top-15 finish so I was feeling pretty good and I played better than I thought. The practice round was playing really tough, it was windy and rainy, so it just felt like it was overall a good day.”

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Grechi began her day on the 10th tee and had a bogey on 14th but bounced back with an eagle on the next hole.

The Frenchwoman then produced back-to-back birdies on 17 and 18 before adding three more on her back nine for her round of six-under.

“I just played well today, I played my game,” said Grechi. “My sister Carla is caddying for me this tournament, so I just want to enjoy it and have fun with her. That happened! I made some birdies; my long game was good and my short game was too.

“I changed a lot of things at the end of last year, it’s taken a long time to have to come together in a good way. I have made a lot of cuts but I didn’t play many times for the top-10 but I’m keeping confident about what I’m working on.”

South Africa’s Casandra Alexander and Australia’s Kirsten Rudgeley sit one shot further back in a share of fourth place on five-under.

Seven players are in a share of sixth place on four-under-par with defending champion Klara Davidson Spilkova alongside Austria’s Christine Wolf, English duo Gabriella Cowley and Eleanor Givens, Spain’s Emma Cabrera Bello, France’s Anne-Lise Caudal and Germany’s Sophie Witt.

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Roll on Dromoland: Next stop Ireland for the Ladies European Tour

Matt Smith — Tue, 29 Aug 2023 11:14:30 +0000

Dromoland Castle. LET

The wonderful Dromoland Castle layout is set to welcome the Ladies European Tour this week as the KPMG Women’s Irish Open returns to the famous venue after a dramatic return to the schedule last year.

Dromoland is once again hosting the event after Klara Spilkova won a playoff over Ursula Wikstrom Nicole Broch Estrup last time out, and there will be 126 players from 28 nations teeing it up from Thursday as they chase the €400,000 prize fund.

Czech star Spilkova sits sixth in the 2023 Race to Costa del Sol having recorded five top-10 results so far this season.

While runners-up Wikstrom and Broch Estrup also return to the venue where they played so well last year and will be hoping to go one better.

Ireland’s Solheim Cup hero Leona Maguire is the best-ranked player in the field this week as she is number 14 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.

The home favourite, who hails from Cavan, finished in a tie for fourth place at last year’s edition after rounds of 67-75-65-68.

England’s Gabriella Cowley who comes into this tournament off the back of a T2 finish at the ISPS Handa World Invitational where she was defeated in a playoff.

Winners from this year on the LET playing this week are Diksha Dagar, Kristyna Napoleaova, Lisa Pettersson, Patricia Isabel Schmidt and Lily May Humphreys.

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Spilkova holds nerve to claim Irish Open at Dromoland

Matt Smith — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 08:38:11 +0000

By Matt Smith
Klara Spilkova held her nerve and held off Finland’s Ursula Wikstrom and Denmark’s Nicole Broch Estrup for a playoff win at the Women’s Irish Open at Dromoland Castle.

The Czech star fired a final round of 67 to finish level alongside Wikstrom and Broch Estrup on 14-under.

The trio then headed back down to 18 and it was Spilkova who rolled in her birdie putt to emerge as the champion at the famous Irish venue.

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“I was just trying to stay patient out there because I started a little funny,” said Spilkova. “But I just really believed in myself somehow and I kept saying to myself that it was there for me.

“It has been a while since I’ve won and I have been playing really good recently, so somehow, I was trying to convince myself that I could win today.”

The 27-year-old came into the day having recorded rounds of 6, 68 and 73 on her opening three days and had a tough start with two bogeys in her first five holes, but she also made three birdies to make the turn in 34.

Back-to-back birdies on 10 and 11 saw the Czech player put herself right in the mix before another birdie on 16.

A miraculous par-save from the edge of the water at 17 gave Spilkova the momentum and she finished her day with a birdie on 18 which at the time put her in the lead in the clubhouse.

Spilkova has had fiancé Sean on the bag with her all summer and getting the win in their final tournament of the year together made it all the more special.

She added: “It was his last event this year. He has to go back to school, so I’m really happy that we were able to do it because we’ve been playing so well this summer together and we have a really nice connection out there and he’s a great golfer. I’m just so happy that we actually did it at this last tournament.”

It was a final round each of 68 for Finland’s Wikstom and Denmark’s Broch Estrup as they both secured a spot in the playoff.

“I like Ireland and I had a nice local caddie who was helping me all week and taking care of everything,” said Wikstrom. “It was a fun week.”

Four players finished in a tie for fourth place — Denmark’s Smilla Tarning Soenderby, Austria’s Christine Wolf, Ireland’s Leona Maguire and England’s Annabel Dimmock.

It was a solid end to the week for Solheim Cup star Maguire after a round of 68 and she was cheered on by around 10,000 spectators at Dromoland Castle on Sunday.

“I gave it my very best shot today especially on the back nine,” the Irish star said. “I was just a little bit too far back after Friday, but if you would have told me I’d finish on 13-under-par on Friday night I would have taken it.

“There has been some great golf played. The Irish fans had a lot to cheer about this week, they’ve come out in their droves, and I think the first KPMG Women’s Irish Open in 10 years has been a great success.”

Scotland’s Laura Beveridge, England’s Gabriella Cowley and Spain’s Carmen Alonso rounded out the top 10 finishing in T8 on 12-under-par.

In the 2022 Race to Costa del Sol, Linn Grant increased her lead at the top of the standings and has a 202.27 point lead over compatriot Maja Stark with fellow Swede Johanna Gustavsson in third place on 1,885.63 points.

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Anne van Dam takes narrow lead into final round of Women’s Irish open at Dromoland Castle

Matt Smith — Sun, 25 Sep 2022 09:13:12 +0000

By Matt Smith
Dutch star Anne van Dam will take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the KPMG Women’s Irish Open at Dromoland Castle after a third-round 70 kept her ahead of the chasing pack.

Van Dam star began her day with a birdie at the first before making a bogey on the second, but rolled in birdies at four and six to make the turn in 33 .

Despite two more dropped shots on the back nine, Van Dam also made two birdies at 15 and 16 for a round of two-under and to put her on 11-under-par at the top of the leaderboard.

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“It was a crazy day,” she said. “It was definitely playing the toughest out of the three days so far, it was colder and very gusty and windy.

“Plus, the wind was in a slightly different direction, so I was guessing a little bit on some shots. It didn’t work out the best for me but that’s golf and it’s also golf that after a round like this you can still be leading.

“Overall, I think they did a good job with where they put the pins and where the tees were. There were definitely chances out there even though it was so windy. Maybe I’m a little bit disappointed that I didn’t get a few more in, but what can I say I tried my best every shot and this is where I ended up.”

It’s a stacked leaderboard behind the five-time LET winner with six players tied for second place on 10-under with one round left of the tournament.

Sweden’s Jessica Karlsson produced a great round of 67 on day three to move just one shot behind the leader while it was also a good day for England’s Annabel Dimmock who shot a 68.

The duo are joined by Denmark’s Nicole Broch Estrup, Finland’s Ursula Wikstrom, Spain’s Carmen Alonso and Sweden’s halfway leader Moa Folke.

“It’s a really nice place, the course is in really good condition and the weather is typically Irish,” Broch Estrup, the 2015 Helsingborg Open champion, said. “Today was challenging, it was a little bit colder and a little bit windier plus that was in a different direction as well.

“This morning I knew it was going to be a tough day for me because playing up there is not something I’m used to lately but I’m really proud of my effort out there. I was not hitting a whole lot of fairways and greens, but I was grinding my way to a round of two-under.”

Six players are just two shots off the lead in a share of eighth place at the end of the third round including home favourite Leona Maguire, who fired the best round of the day with a 65 to move to nine-under.

Maguire sits alongside Austrian duo Sarah Schober and Christine Wolf, England’s Felicity Johnson, Czechia’s Klara Spilkova and Denmark’s Smilla Tarning Soenderby.

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LET: Folke powers to midway lead at Irish Open at Dromoland Castle

Matt Smith — Sat, 24 Sep 2022 08:45:50 +0000

By Matt Smith
Sweden’s Moa Folke fired a stunning 62 to lead by two strokes at the halfway stage of the Women’s Irish Open at Dromoland Castle.

The 27-year-old Swede who started with a birdie on the first and then added another on the third before three in-a-row on holes six through eight to make the turn in 30.

A dropped shot on the 11th was no bother for Folke as she then rolled in four birdies consecutively on holes 13 through 16 before finishing her day with an eagle on 18.

“I don’t know what happened really. All the putts seemed to go in today,” she said. “I hit some really good shots and I’m just really happy. I don’t know if I can really understand what happened.

“Everything came together, I made some mistakes but ended up in good spots and then I made a lot of putts. I think it’s a course that sets ups for aggressive play and usually it pays off to be aggressive. I had that one bogey where I went for the green and I ended up dropping that shot, but it still worked out.

Three players sit in a tie for second place with Denmark’s Smilla Tarning Soenderby, Spain’s Carmen Alonso and Czech Klara Spilkova all on 10-under.

After opening with a round of 69 both Soenderby and Alonso produced rounds of 65 on day two at Dromoland Castle.

“It’s definitely my best round score-wise as a professional, but actually not my best round ball-striking wise,” said the Danish LET rookie, who made eight birdies today. “My putter was cooperating today which helped.”

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