Germany’s Leonie Harm moved one step closer to playing in the PING Junior Solheim Cup in front of her home fans when she won the Allianz German Boys and Girls‘ Open at GC St Leon-Rot.
Harm, member at GC St. Leon-Rot, carded rounds of 65, 74 and 66 to claim a one shot victory over compatriot Esther Henseleit. That moved Harm into second place on the PING Junior Solheim Cup European Ranking and gave her a great chance of booking her place on the European team for the match at the same venue on September 14-15 later this year.
The top six players on the PING Junior Solheim Cup ranking at the end of the qualification process in mid-August all earn automatic places in Iben Tinning’s European team and Harm collected 40 points for her win at St. Leon-Rot to move just 30 points behind current leader Agathe Laisne from France.
Laisne shot to the top of the Ranking after reaching the final of this year‘s French International Lady Juniors Championship at St. Cloud and the 16 year-old from RCF La Boulie took her total to 70 points with an impressive third place at St. Leon-Rot.
The Allianz German Boys and Girls‘ Open also proved to be a good tournament for Spain’s Maria Parra who led the PING Junior Solheim Cup European Ranking after winning the first counting event – the Spanish International Ladies‘ Amateur Championship – and who consolidated third place on the list with a fifth place at the German qualifying event.
Parra currently has 35 points while Henseleit, Spain’s Ana Pelaez and Sweden’s Elin Esborn all share fourth place on the Ranking with 30 points apiece.
European Captain, Tinning, watched the action unfold at St. Leon-Rot and the former Solheim Cup star was delighted by what she saw.
″I have been very impressed by the standard of golf″ said Tinning. ″The girls all strike the ball very well and their attitude is exceptional. It all augers well for the match in September.“
″It has been really good to meet both the players and Vice-Captain, Sebastian Rühl, and get a chance to talk to them and to get to know them better,″ added Tinning.
″Sebastian is going to be a key figure because he knows a lot of the girls and is also based at St. Leon-Rot so his local knowledge will be invaluable.″
The Allianz German Boys and Girls’ Open was the third qualifying event for this year’s PING Junior Solheim Cup. Next up is the Ladies’ British Open Amateur Championship which is played this week at Portstewart GC, Northern Ireland (June 9-13). It is followed by the European Girls’ Team Championship at Golf Resort Kaskada Brno, Czech Republic (July 7-11), the European Ladies’ Team Championship at Helsingør GC, Denmark (July 7-11) and the ANNIKA Invitational Europe at Bro-Bålsta GK, Sweden (August 4-6) before the qualification process is completed at the Girls’ British Open Championship at West Kilbride GC, Scotland, on August 10-14, 2015.
ABOUT THE PING JUNIOR SOLHEIM CUP
The PING Junior Solheim Cup 2015 is to be played at Golf Club St. Leon-Rot on September 14-15 immediately ahead of The Solheim Cup, which is staged at the same German golf club on September 18-20. It is the first time the same venue has been used for both matches.
The PING Junior Solheim Cup is a team match play competition between Europe and the United States, each team featuring the best 12 female golfers 18 years of age and younger.
The competition consist of 24 matches – six foursome matches, six fourball matches and 12 single matches.
The aim of the competition is to give juniors the opportunity to further their golfing careers by playing matchplay at a high level and also for the competitors to meet, learn and be inspired by the professional players playing in The Solheim Cup.
The 2015 event marks the eighth time the PING Junior Solheim Cup team will be contested with the US Team currently leading the series 4-2-1.
The PING Junior Solheim Cup was established by PING CEO and Chairman, John Solheim, back in 2002 and since has developed a deserved reputation for showcasing the talents of the world’s best female junior players with Azahara Munoz, Anna Nordqvist, Carlota Ciganda, Beatriz Recari, Melissa Reid, Charley Hull, Caroline Masson, Caroline Hedwall, Paula Creamer, Vicky Hurst, Brittany Lang, Brittany Lincicome, Morgan Pressel, Jessica Korda, and Lexi Thompson all playing in the match before graduating to The Solheim Cup.
For more information about the PING Junior Solheim Cup please visit www.solheimcup.com or contact Eva-Lotta Sternmarker at the Ladies European Tour by email on [email protected]
