English duo Alice Hewson and Cara Gainer are looking forward to another week on home soil as they tee it up in this week’s PIF London Championship.
Centurion Club in Hertfordshire is hosting the tournament for the sixth consecutive year from Thursday August 6 – Sunday August 9.
Both players head into this week off the back of making the cut at the AIG Women’s Open held at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
“AIGWO is always special and being back in England for the first time in a few years, it’s always a great event,” said Hewson. “The course was awesome. They set it up so well.
“A really good balance of really challenging holes and long holes and then on Sunday, to change it up and have a reachable par-4. That makes it fun and exciting, that’s what people want to see, they want to see good scores in women’s golf and that’s what they showed last week.
“The game feels pretty solid and in a good place overall, the swing takes a bit of a battering when you take two weeks in a row with strong winds. It will be about getting back to my normals and trying to not fight the elements too much.”
Gainer explained: “It was a really incredible week, probably the best tournament I’ve ever played. The golf course was absolutely phenomenal, and it was absolutely perfect for women’s golf. I’m pretty happy with my game, I played pretty solidly last week.
“I was lucky enough to have my golf coach, also Alice’s coach, with us last week. That was really helpful having someone to overlook the swing and make sure we were all in check for the tournament. Hopefully, I can bring that into this week and I’m overall pretty happy with where I’m at, it’s about making the putts.”
A field of 120 players are competing for the $2 million USD prize fund in a 72-hole stroke play competition with a cut to the top 60 professionals and ties after 36 holes.
With another week in England, the pair have to reset quite quickly but having played here so many times before, the preparation needed is slightly different.
“It’s definitely challenging, these four weeks as a whole are important weeks, and you want to give your all,” continued Hewson. “The conditions last week don’t make it easy. I’m grateful it’s hopping in the car and not on a flight. It is difficult to reset, and I took a day off yesterday and it’s important to balance taking a break and still giving it everything for this week.
“One of the biggest challenges here is it’s always windy. I haven’t had a chance yet to go out and look at the course, but from what I’m hearing it’s quite firm as well, which will definitely make it challenging but that’s how this course is designed. Centurion shows its teeth when it’s dry and firm out there. It will be really exciting to see how it’s playing, the greens are pure so there should be some putts rolling in.”
Gainer said: “It was nice to have a day off yesterday, sleep and recharge after a pretty stressful long week. It’s great to be back here with another fantastic tournament ahead. Trying to get in the right mindset and rest and recover as much as possible.
“It’s a bit more of a home gig. We’ve played here many times. I’m in the Pro-Am, so can get a full 18 holes to look at the golf course. That allowed me to take a day off. I think it will play a little differently to last year with the UK summer affecting everywhere I’m sure it’s a lot firmer out there, but I’ve heard it’s in good condition and the greens are receptive.”
Inspiring the next generation of golfers is important for the Ladies European Tour (LET) and its players.
Plenty of junior golfers have attended this tournament for the past few years and the English stars are hoping to continue to inspire the next generation.
Hewson added: “I do feel we get good crowds here especially with the junior golfers, you see a lot of young kids out here watching. Even just small token gestures from the girls, giving them a ball here or there, they appreciate it so much. It’s little bits like that that inspire them to follow golf in whatever way they choose, it might not be in professional golf. It’s great to see, it’s such a good opportunity.”
Gainer added: “Hopefully, we’ll have a lot of young supporters out. We can inspire young girls to pick up a golf club or they [might] want to watch us play golf. That’s also a really key and important part of us home players playing this tournament, so those girls can have people to look up to who are from England and they can aspire and be like. It’s great to be close to home.”
Follow all the action throughout on our socials – @LETgolf on Instagram, TikTok and X, and Ladies European Tour on YouTube and Facebook – #PIFLondonChampionship.
