The LET’s Lalla Aicha Q-School kicks off this week with four pre-qualifiers in Morocco and four Irish women are among the 221 entries hopeful of earning a place in next week’s Final Stage at Al Maaden Golf Club in Marrakesh.
Áine Donegan, set to embark on her first full season as a pro, is the sole Irish representative in the qualifier at Fairmont Royal Palm Golf and Country Club, while amateur Oliva Hunt joins two players with LET experience in Olivia Mehaffey and Canice Screene at nearby Palm Golf Marrakesh.
Donegan is hoping that her stellar amateur career – a Curtis Cup winner in 2024 – her big-tournament history having played and impressed in the US Women’s Open in 2023, and her early LET Access Series experience will aid her in her quest to join Lauren Walsh, Anna Foster, and Sara Byrne on the LET next season, emulating Walsh, Foster, Byrne, Screene, and Annabel Wilson in earning LET stripes at the first time of asking.
Hunt may choose to remain amateur if she doesn’t earn an LET card, while Screene can draw on the experience of the previous year when she earned Category 16 status after making it through pre-qualifying and finishing tied for 36th at Final Stage, subsequently turning pro.
Mehaffey, who’s been an LET regular since first qualifying in late 2021, has struggled of late and had to make do with limited starts on the main tour, supplemented with LET Access Series appearances, is hoping that her struggles are behind her and that a successful Q-School campaign will be the first step back to where she belongs.
The pre-qualifiers consist of 54 holes and run from Wednesday to Friday, with the five-round Final Stage following the week after.
You can follow all the action here.
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