It’s set to be a memorable week for the Finnish stars involved at this year’s Ladies Open by Pickala Rock Resort and the home favourites are relishing the local support in Helsinki.
No fewer than 14 Finnish players will be teeing up this week on the Ladies European Tour (LET) as the circuit heads to the Nordic nation for the tenth time in its history.
Last year’s Jabra Ladies Open winner Tiia Koivisto will be leading the charge alongside Ursula Wikstrom, Sanna Nuutinen, and Noora Komulainen among others, with the home nation heroes delighted to be back competing in Finland again.
“I always love to play in front of a home crowd,” Wikstrom said. “It’s always something special and it’s always a nice week. The crowds should be good, it’s close to Helsinki and it’s that time of the year where everyone starts their holidays. I’m hoping it will be a nice atmosphere.
“I live about 45 minutes from here, so I’ll have family and friends coming out to support. I’m really hopeful that there’s going to be a lot of spectators coming out.”
Born in Mäntsälä – just 50 minutes from Helsinki – Koivisto is also expecting a strong following as she chases win number two on the LET.
She said: “It feels great to be back. I live quite nearby and I’m staying at my parents’ place, so it’s nice to have some familiar faces around. My family and friends are going to come and watch me play which should be fun.
“I’ve played this course a couple of times this year. We’ve also been playing a lot of Finnish Tour tournaments here, so I know the course pretty well. It would mean a lot to do well this week. I’ll just try my best and we’ll see! It’s going to be a great week.”
Five Finnish amateurs will also be taking centre stage this week, with Krista Junkkari, Katri Bakker, Henni Mustonen, Elina Saksa and Fanni Gronlund all hoping to put in good performances.
“It’s good to have some young amateurs here to see what it’s like [to play on the LET],” Wikstrom said. “The atmosphere among the Finnish players has been really nice. We have 14 home players here this week which is obviously much more than normal. That’s always nice.”
Koivisto said: “It’s good to see a lot of the Finnish players from the LET Access Series and national team here. We don’t get to see each other too often, so it’s great to have a lot of Finnish players and hear a lot of Finnish around!”
The Ladies Open by Pickala Rock Resort gets underway on Thursday at 8:30am local time. Follow all the action on @LETGolf on Instagram and Twitter and Ladies European Tour on Facebook and YouTube – #RaiseOurGame #LETsRockPickala.
