Sweden’s Julia Engström is enjoying being back at the Women’s NSW Open – the tournament where she clinched her first LET title back in 2020.
And due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the 21-year-old returns as defending champion having won the title at Dubbo Golf Club two years ago.
“It is very nice to be back. Last time was my first win on the LET and it was such an amazing feeling, so it definitely brings back some memories,” said the 2018 LET Rookie of the Year.
“It is good to be back and good to be back as a defending champion and we’ll see how the week turns out.”
Victory at the Women’s NSW Open was the first on the LET for Engström in 2020 and she followed it up later that year by winning the Lacoste Ladies Open de France.
At the end of that season, the then teenager was struggling with a back injury and pulled out of season finale but still finished second in the 2020 Race to Costa del Sol and recorded three further top-10 finishes.
Engström didn’t play for the whole of the 2021 season but returned to the LET earlier this year at the Magical Kenya Ladies Open.
And despite being a two-time LET winner, the main goal for the Swede was to get back playing on Tour rather than being back in the winner’s circle.
Having played five events so far in 2022, the 2017 PING Junior Solheim Cup player is honest about where her game is and her expectations heading forward.
“It has been great to be back, but it has been tough,” she explained. “I’m just trying to keep playing and getting back into it and hopefully I’ll play my way back.
“I think that is the important thing to get back to playing and get some more rounds and holes of golf in the body and in the system.
“I’m seeing some bits of my game that are turning out the way I want to, I’m trying to get all of the different parts of the game together at the same time and then I think we’ll be fine.”
The 2022 edition of the Women’s NSW Open, which carries a prize purse of €210,000, is being played at Coolangatta & Tweed Heads Golf Club.
Engström will begin her first round on the 11th tee at 7.10am alongside Whitney Hillier and amateur Kirsten Rudgeley, who are both from Australia.
And the Swede praised the condition of the course, she added: “I like the course very much. It is nice with the trees lining it and with the rain they have had, the course is in great condition. It is great, and the greens are firm, so that’s exciting.”
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