Despite another top-five finish, Castlewarden’s Lauren Walsh will be a little disappointed with her closing two rounds at the Lombardia Ladies Open LET Access Series event in Varese, Northern Italy, but she still maintained her record of not finishing outside the top-10 in her four Access Series starts to date.
An opening, four-under 68 saw Walsh head to the final two rounds of the 54-hole event tied for second, but a 75 on day two was followed by a closing, level-par 72 that saw her end the week in a tie for fifth place.
A birdie at the first was cancelled out by a bogey on two, and from here, she’d make just one more birdie – this coming at the sixth – and one more bogey – at 17 – to round off a frustrating couple of days.
Walsh, who missed most of the early season Access Series events as she completed her studies at Wake Forest University in the United States, is targeting a late push to move into the top 21 on the money list which would make her exempt from the preliminary qualifiers for LET Q-School. She’ll look at this as a chance missed, however, there are still two opportunities remaining and she’ll likely need a win to move inside the mark as she currently lies 52nd.
Abigail O’Riordan closed out her week with a two-over 74 for a T27 finish at +6 overall.
Denmark’s Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen stormed to a four-stroke victory as the current Order of Merit and Rookie of the Year leader fired a closing 69 to overtake England’s Emily Price, and not only claim her third victory of the season, but secure her LET card for 2024.
“I feel calmer now,” she said after her round. “It was very overwhelming when I was on the putting green. I tried to enjoy the moment.
“I maybe took a bit longer than I usually do but I knew I had been there before, and I know the feeling is something that I must enjoy and take in because it’s not going to happen often.
“I feel very happy and proud that I finished well today and came up the leaderboard.
“It was fun out there today importantly; I’ve known them for years now and I think it’s cool to go out and be nice to each other. It was fun and competitive.”
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