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| Europeans Carlota Ciganda and Sandra Gal hope to be in contention at the end of the week. |
A strong field of 126 players including 12 Germans can look forward to a week of brilliant sunshine at Golfclub Wörthsee in Munich this week.
The forecasted conditions couldn’t be more different to last year, when the tournament was curtailed due to poor weather. Wall to wall sunshine is predicted, with highs of 32C on Saturday.
Last year, Carlota Ciganda of Spain defeated England’s Charley Hull in a sudden-death play-off to win the title. Both players have returned this year and Hull is looking to turn the tables on Ciganda after a tie for 12th in the Ricoh Women’s British Open last week.
Germany’s own Sandra Gal is another headline act, attempting to become the first home winner of the title. She will face stiff opposition from compatriot Sophia Popov, making her professional debut and Ann-Kathrin Lindner, the winner of last year’s Pilsen Golf Masters, as well as rookie Karolin Lampert, Nina Holleder, Miriam Nagl, Steffi Kirchmayr, Isabell Gabsa, Leigh Whittaker, Elizabeth Esterl and the two amateurs, Rachel Taylor and Olivia Cowan.
Other top names include Italian Solheim Cup player Giulia Sergas and recent tour winners Valentine Derrey, Camilla Lennarth and Florentyna Parker, the bilingual Englishwoman who lives in Hamburg and won the Ladies Italian Open a fortnight ago.
Let’s not forget former French winners Anne-Lise Caudal and Jade Schaeffer, as well as Gwladys Nocera and Cheyenne Woods from the USA, who earned her breakthrough win in February. She stole the headlines from her famous uncle Tiger as she led the first round of the Spanish Open during last year’s Open Championship. Let’s see if she can do the same this week.
After the strong winds and brutal rough at Royal Birkdale during the Ricoh Women’s British Open at the weekend, Golfclub Wörthsee will present an altogether different challenge.
Calm conditions are forecast at the attackable, par-72 parkland layout and with soft and reachable greens, low scoring is expected.
The first round gets under way at 8am local time on Thursday, 17th July.
