Familiarity could be key for Alice Hewson at this week’s Investec SA Women’s Open as the 2020 champion looks to kick on with her 2026 season on the Ladies European Tour (LET).
The Englishwoman claimed a famous victory at this event six years ago winning on her professional debut as a 22-year-old when it was staged at Westlake Golf Club.
Fast forward to 2026 and the now three-time LET winner is excited to be back in a city she always enjoys coming back to as the event heads to Royal Cape Golf Club.
“I love playing in Cape Town,” Hewson said, who also finished T11 and T12 at this event in 2022 and 2023 respectively. “It feels great to be back. Everything feels familiar, you drive past certain areas and remember where you’ve played before. We’ve got a really nice house this week, we’re in-between all the vineyards. It feels good to be back.
“There’s so much now which is so different. When I think back to that week, I came here as a rookie, played three practice rounds of 18 holes in the wind and rain, pulling my own trolley. I thought I knew how to prepare for a week. But I look how I prepare for tournaments now and it is night and day different! It’s not sustainable to play like that but it worked for me that week. There’s been a lot of personal growth since then, understanding my own game and how I played best, how to prepare week in week out.”
The Englishwoman has had a steady start to 2026 picking up one top-10 and making five out of seven cuts to sit 31st on the Order of Merit.
Last week at the Joburg Ladies Open, Hewson finished T19 as France’s Agathe Laisne claimed a dramatic second victory of the season.
“I’m feeling positive,” Hewson said. “I put four nice rounds together last week which was the first time this year. I’ll take some positives from that.
“It’s probably consistently one to two shots a round worse than where I would like to be. It’s been consistent, I’ve just struggled a little to get some of those really low rounds in. So I’m going to take last week and build on that. I feel I putted really well last week which was nice to see because that’s what I’ve struggled with this season.”
Hewson is staying with close friend Casandra Alexander again this week who tees up as the home favourite once more. She will also be aided by husband Stephen Smith on the bag who is continuing to take on caddie duties for the three-time LET winner.
“It’s always great to stay with one of your best mates [Alexander] and see them do well,” Hewson said. “I’m staying with her again this week, she cooked a few braais last week. She’s a steak specialist so we’ll have to get her to cook some more this week.
“It’s also been really good having my husband on the bag. It’s been such a great experience for us. I don’t know when we would ever have an opportunity to spend 10 weeks together on the road like this. We’ve been fitting in some sightseeing, it’s not just been about the golf.”
Hewson gets underway at the Investec SA Women’s Open on Thursday at 8:30 local time playing alongside compatriot Esme Hamilton and Czech Republic’s Klara Davidson Spilkova.
“I’m not trying to play with any expectations,” she said on the week ahead. “I’m just trying to go out there and take each hole at a time. I feel if I try to get too far ahead of myself, I could self implode pretty quickly. I’ll do that and hopefully after 72 holes we’ll be somewhere near the top.”
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