Ciganda wins U.S. Women’s Open qualifier by 11 shots

Carlota Ciganda of Spain played in a US Women’s Open qualifier on Monday and earned a whopping 11 shot margin of victory.

She flew from Europe to Chicago for the 36-hole qualifier at Big Foot Country Club and shortly afterwards was on a plane back to Germany to play in the UniCredit Ladies German Open presented by Audi.

Ciganda shot rounds of 69 and 70 for a 7-under-par 139 total. She advances to the U.S. Women’s Open July 5-8 at Blackwolf Run in Kohler.

Ciganda, a 21-year-old rookie on the Ladies European Tour, told a reporter from JSOnline.com: “I played very good. I’m very happy. I made 11 birdies. I played great golf, putting well, hitting great shots. Now I’m going back to Germany to play the European Tour.”

Joining Ciganda at Blackwolf Run will be Numa Gulyanamitta of West Lafayette, Ind., who earned the second qualifying spot in a one-hole playoff with Aimee Neff of Carmel, Indiana.

Ciganda will be a player to watch in Kohler. She won the 2007 British Amateur, was the Spanish national champion from 2000 to ’06 and was a two-time member of Spain’s World Amateur team. She has three top-10 finishes on the LET this year, including a tie for third at the Turkish Airlines Ladies Open.

The field of 57 players at Big Foot included amateurs and professionals from 11 states plus Canada, England and Spain. The course measured 6,378 yards and par was 73.

RESULTS

QUALIFIERS

139 – Carlota Ciganda, Spain, 69-70.

150 – Numa Gulyanamitta, West Lafayette, Ind., 75-75.

ALTERNATES

150 – Aimee Neff, Carmel, Ind., 73-77.

153 – Kirby Dreher, Marion, Iowa, 80-73.

WISCONSIN SCORES

157 – Carly Werwie, Kenosha, 82-75.

159 – Isabella Lambert, Big Bend, 80-79; Jessica Hauser, Hartland, 82-77.

161 – Casey Danielson, Osceola, 78-83; Jenna Peters, Kohler, 81-80.

162 – Jessie Gerry, Merrimac, 83-79.

166 – Alexis Nelson, Madison, 85-81.

167 – Cassandra Marschall, Marshfield, 80-87.

169 – Meghan Sobotta, 83-86.

181 – Jessica Stand, Green Bay, 90-91.