The curtain-raiser of the Ladies European Tour (LET) season begins in Cape Town this week as two former champions seek to add another Investec South African Women’s Open crown to their name.
Four spots at the year’s second Major, the 76th US Women’s Open, which will be played at The Olympic Club in June are up for grabs, while the tournament also marks the start of the second edition of the LET’s Race to Costa del Sol.
The €200,000 LET and Sunshine Ladies Tour co-sanctioned tournament will see 115 competitors battle it out at Westlake Golf Club between 13-16 May over 72 holes, with a 36-hole cut to 60 and ties.
Home favourite Lee-Anne Pace, who won the LET Order of Merit in 2010, is in search of her fourth SA Women’s Open title and comes to the competition in fine fettle. With five top-10 finishes on the Sunshine Ladies Tour, the South African hopes to repeat the success of her victories in 2014, 2015 and 2017.
Another former champion returning to South Africa is Norway’s Marianne Skarpnord, who claimed victory at the Dimension Data Ladies Challenge last week. The 35-year-old triumphed in a four-way play-off and will be hoping to continue her momentum and reclaim the title she last secured in 2013.
At 8am local time, the two former champions will tee it up with South African Casandra Hall, who has also been in excellent form in 2021. The 21-year-old clinched victory at the Joburg Ladies Open and finished T2 in the Dimension Data Ladies Challenge.
Solheim Cup stalwart Caroline Hedwall, who has been an integral member of the European Team in recent years with three Cup victories to her name, will be looking to start the season brightly in South Africa. She is joined by France’s Celine Herbin, who has already qualified for the US Women’s Open, Austria’s Christine Wolf and Sweden’s Jenny Haglund as previous LET tournament winners.
Several players head into the competition in good form. French golfer Manon Gidali secured her first professional win at the opening event on the Sunshine Ladies Tour, holing a 25-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole of the Cape Town Ladies Open. Austria’s Sarah Schober won the first two of the Audi Circuit tournaments where the field of 33 included 30 male professionals and Spain’s Carmen Alonso was crowned champion of the D&B Pro Tour Layos.
The highest-placed players in the field from last year’s Race to Costa del Sol are Belgium’s Manon De Roey (4) and Finland’s Sanna Nuutinen (5).
