Last week Jana Melichova achieved a childhood dream by winning the Tipsport Czech Ladies Open on the Ladies European Tour (LET) at Royal Beroun Golf Club while still an amateur.
By securing victory, the Czech golfer was given the option to play at this week’s Amundi German Masters and she also had to decide whether to take up LET membership.
And after a hectic couple of days, the Czech golfer has relinquished her amateur status and will make her professional debut this week at Golf & Country Club Seddiner See.
“It is still sinking in! I keep looking at pictures and videos from Sunday especially from the 18th green and I keep getting tears in my eyes,” she said.
“It is incredible. It is pretty difficult to process what it all means. I didn’t have time to celebrate or appreciate the moment because there were a lot of things going on.
“After the tournament I had to decide whether to come here this week and then I had to confirm if I was going to join the LET. Now I have got my professional status and I have everything settled, so I’m just going to enjoy this tournament as a professional and focus on my game.”
The 24-year-old triumphed last week clinching a one-shot victory having carded rounds of 68, 65 and 69 at Beroun.
And the fact the victory was on home soil made it sweeter, especially given the fact that Klara Spilkova – the first Czech winner on the LET – was also there.
“Winning in front of the home crowd and in front of the girls that you’ve grown up with was so much more special than I could ever imagine,” she continued.
“It was amazing. With the last putt when all the people started cheering, I started nearly crying and when the girls ran to the green to spray me with champagne, I was all in tears.
“I couldn’t see anything because I was crying. It was huge. Klara [Spilkova] has been a big support, she’s talked to me, and she was so happy.”
Having graduated from Old Dominion University in May with a degree in International Business and Economics, the original plan for the rest of the year was for Melichova to stay amateur for a few months and prepare for LET Q-School at the end of the year.
However, having taken up membership, the LET winner is looking forward to an exciting rest of the year and hoping to adjust to life on Tour.
“This season is perfect for me to adjust to the new environment,” she explained. “I’m playing with the players I wanted to be playing with my whole life and to prepare for next season which will be crucial.”
Ahead of this week Melichova, who will be playing alongside England’s Meghan MacLaren and Germany’s Karolin Lampert, has been trying to focus on her game and put her exploits from just a few days ago to the back of her mind.
And even though she has now won on the LET, she is keeping the pressure off and hoping to stay patient in the process of adjusting to professional life.
She added: “At this tournament I want to focus on just my game. I think it is going to be tough after last week’s success, I think people will have a lot of expectations, but I hope they understand that I need to stay patient and calm, and I cannot get too excited.
“I think the course is beautiful. It reminds me a little bit of one of the courses back home with a lot of bunkers. Every hole is different, it’s exciting. I think it’s going to be a good week. The course seems to be in pretty good shape, the greens are perfect.
“I obviously want to make the cut and play until the last day, but I don’t want to have any expectations or be stressing myself out. I want to play well, and improve my ranking and position, but I’m comfortable to play my own game and not be stressed out over it.”
Melichova is one of nine winners from the 2022 LET season who will be trying to add another accolade including Swedish duo Linn Grant (Joburg Ladies Open, Mithra Belgian Ladies Open, Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed) and Maja Stark (Women’s NSW Open), who are number one and two in the Race to Costa del Sol.
First-time winners vying for their second win are Finland’s Tiia Koivisto (Jabra Ladies Open), Belgium’s Manon De Roey (Aramco Team Series – Bangkok Individual) and Spain’s Ana Peláez Trivino (Madrid Ladies Open).
Two-time LET winner Esther Henseleit (Magical Kenya Ladies Open) leads the home charge, South Africa’s Lee-Anne Pace, who won the Order of Merit in 2010, added an 11th title earlier this season and will tee it up as will three-time LET winner England’s MacLaren.
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