Solheim Cup stars Caroline Masson and Sandra Gal stole the headlines early in the week of the ISPS HANDA Ladies European Masters but there are several young German players who are determined to upstage them with strong performances in the LET’s showcase event at Golf Club Hubbelrath in Düsseldorf.
Isi Gabsa, who claimed her first professional victory at the Drobak Ladies Open on the 2015 LET Access Series, has already shown some strong form in her four appearances on the LET this year, including the Tipsport Golf Masters where she led after the first round before ending in a tie for 31st position.
The 21-year-old from Stuttgart said: “I’m really happy that the ISPS HANDA Ladies European Masters is in Germany. It’s my first time playing at Golf Club Hubbelrath because I live four hours away in Stuttgart. I know they played the German Championship here but I was already professional so I didn’t have the chance to play here. I’ve never been here but I really like it. There are great greens in good condition so I really like the course. It’s quite narrow from the tees and you have smaller greens but I would say it fits most parts of my game. I hope that a lot of Germans will come out and watch.”
LET rookie Olivia Cowan, who won the 2015 LET Access Series Order of Merit after three victories on the circuit last year, also had a strong start to the 2016 LET season with a tie for 10th in the ISPS HANDA New Zealand Women’s Open and is another player to watch.
The 20-year-old won the morning Pro-Am on Wednesday as part of a team containing German footballers Lars Bender and Stefan Kießling and she said afterwards: “It doesn’t feel like any other LET event. I really want to do well as I’ll have more people watching. I played well in the Pro-Am so if I can continue like this over the next few days then I will have a chance. It’s a tricky course and not easy, but the more you play you get to know where to place your ball on the first shot and you have a lot of long shots into the greens as well.”
Karolin Lampert is another player who has enjoyed success on the LET Access Series with a victory at the 2015 Azores Ladies Open and the 21-year-old commented: “I’m definitely looking forward to playing and I hope that a lot of people come out and watch because it’s great to play a tournament in Germany again. I always feel welcome at this golf course and we had a team championship here a few years ago. I think it’s important to hit good drives. I’m feeling really confident with my drives at the moment and I think that’s the key, otherwise you’ll have lots of long shots into the greens. It’s important to hit a long and straight drive. The greens are a lot faster now than they were at the beginning of the week. There are certain places that you don’t want to be so you’ll need to be careful with that.”
The other German players in the field include Leigh Whittaker, Nina Holleder, Ann-Kathrin Lindner, who is returning from injury and rookie Leticia Ras-Anderica, who changed her nationality to German from Spanish just before the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco. The LET members are joined by invited players Chiara Mertens and Anastasia Mickan, one of two amateurs in the field.
