After a week in France, next up for the Ladies European Tour (LET) is a trip to Hong Kong for the 25th event of the season.
Hong Kong Golf Club is the next venue of the Aramco Team Series presented by PIF – Hong Kong, which is the fourth ATS event in 2023.
Before the tournament gets underway on Friday, here are a few points to look out for…
European Solheim Cup stars in attendance
It was just over a week ago that the Solheim Cup ended in a dramatic 14-14 tie at Finca Cortesin with Europe retaining the coveted trophy and two of Europe’s stars Carlota Ciganda and Caroline Hedwall are teeing it up this week.
Captain’s pick Hedwall turned her Sunday singles match around coming from 3 down to defeat Ally Ewing 2 up and provide a crucial point. It all came down to Ciganda on the par-3 17th when she stuck her tee shot to a few feet and rolled in the birdie putt which ensured Europe retained the trophy.
World number one in town
Lilia Vu is making her debut in this format at the Aramco Team Series presented by PIF – Hong Kong. The number one in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings has had quite the 2023 finishing in a tie for third at the Aramco Saudi Ladies International just before winning her maiden LPGA Tour title in Thailand.
A few months later, the 25-year-old clinched her first major title winning the Chevron Championship and over the summer added another Major triumphing at the AIG Women’s Open. Vu was also part of the U.S. Team at the 2023 Solheim Cup winning her singles match on Sunday.
Former Champions aplenty
The field of 84 professionals in Hong Kong contains plenty of pedigree with many players having had previous success in the format over the past three years. Previous individual winners include Marianne Skarpnord, Alison Lee, Pia Babnik, Chiara Noja and Carlota Ciganda.
While many of the players teeing it up this week have been part of the winning team with Diksha Dagar, Casandra Alexander, Michele Thomson, Hannah Burke, Nicole Garcia, Tereza Melecka and Christine Wolf to just name a few.
Unique format in play
The format is the same as last year with the Individual and Team competitions being played simultaneously. The Team competition will be played over 36-holes over the first two days with the best two scores counting, while the Individual is a 54-hole stroke play competition with the last round just having the top-60 professionals and ties competing.
There are 84 professionals teeing it up this week and there will be 28 teams contending for the top prize. Each team will consist of three professionals and one amateur with the captains decided based upon the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings on Monday 25th September. The Draft will see captains pick in reverse order of ranking.
Race to Costa del Sol heating up
With the final stretch of events in the season, the 2023 Race to Costa del Sol is reaching its boiling point as the players vie to accumulate as many points as possible and climb the rankings.
France’s Celine Boutier currently leads the rankings but is being chased down by the newest LET winner Johanna Gustavsson, who moved up to second in the standings after her win in France.
Gustavsson is one of five players in the top 10 who are teeing it up this week, and they will all be working hard to collate as many points as possible with just a few events left this season.
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