Irish eyes turn to the Ladies European Tour’s (LET) VP Bank Swiss Open at the Golfpark Holzhäusern in Switzerland as Olivia Mehaffey and Lauren Walsh take to the course.
The Irish duo will be looking at this tournament as an opportunity to impress and improve on their recent exploits in Europe, especially Mehaffey whose Ladies European Tour card is hanging in the balance heading into the final six competitions on the calendar.
The Northern Irelander had a tough two days at the Big Green Egg Open in the Netherlands with rounds of 72 and 77 resulting in her missing the cut – a poor run of holes on the back nine of her final round condemning her to a share for 81st.
To obtain a tour card on the LET for the upcoming season through the Race to Costa del Sol rankings players must finish in the top 70 and, as it stands, Mehaffey enters the competition ranked 71st.
A strong performance at the Swiss Open would go a long way in helping the 24-year-old maintain her status on the tour, especially with her so tantalisingly close to earning a tour card for the 2024 season.
Lauren Walsh on the other hand is coming into this competition off the back of a strong finish at the Ladies European Tour Access Series’ (LETAS) Rose Ladies Open at Brocket Hall in England.
Walsh’s scores improved round by round at the Rose Open, recording rounds of 74, 70 and 69 as the Castlewarden golfer notched a top-10 finish.
After narrowly missing out on Stage II at the LPGA Qualifying Tournament at Mission Hills in California and an Epson Tour card, Walsh has turned her focus to the European tournaments.
The 23-year-old will be making her LET debut this season in Switzerland and will be hoping that her form in the LETAS events will stand her in good stead in a competitive field this week.
Lauren Walsh starts her tournament from the 10th tee alongside Germany’s Helen Tamy Kreuzer and Sweden’s Linnea Johansson (tee-off at 12:47 p.m.)
Olivia Mehaffey starts her round under an hour after Walsh alongside Frenchwoman Agathe Sauzon and Finland’s Sanna Nuutinen from the first hole (tee-off at 13:42 p.m.)
One of the standout groups includes the three-ball of Big Green Egg champion, Trichat Cheenglab, Sweden’s Lisa Petterson and Swiss native, Sarah Uebelhart (tee-off 12:36 p.m.)
The VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open gets underway on Thursday with the opening group of Welshwoman Amy Boulden, Czech Jana Melichova and Thailand’s April Angurasaranee (tee-off at 8:00 a.m.) with a prize purse of €300,000 to be shared amongst the competing players.
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