Momoka Kobori has been looking forward to the Ladies European Tour (LET) being in Australia for the past few months.
The New Zealand player won the 2023 edition of the Women’s NSW Open which was held at Tuncurry.
After securing full LET playing rights in December at Lalla Aicha Q-School, the 25-year-old has had this fortnight marked on her calendar ever since.
“I’m really excited, I have been looking forward to this event for a while,” she said. “Last year it was good that even though it wasn’t LET co-sanctioned, they still managed to put an event together for us.
“It was a really great event and I’ve been looking forward to coming back again on the LET schedule. It’s really exciting and nice to be playing as close to home as it gets for me. It should be a fun week.
“I was aiming for these two Australian events when I got my top-20 at LET Q-School in December. It’s rare that we get to play so close to home.
“Australia is definitely pretty close to home for me, they’re two of the ones I have been looking forward to. Especially being around the Aussie girls here, it’s a pretty fun environment as well.”
Kobori will begin her title defence at 7.37 am (local time) on Friday alongside Sweden’s Johanna Gustavsson and Czechia’s Klara Davidson Splikova.
The two-time winner on the LET Access Series is playing in her second season on the LET.
It’s been a solid start to the year for Kobori, who finished T40 at the Magical Kenya Ladies Open and T42 in the Lalla Meryem Cup.
She explained: “It’s been good so far, I have played two events in Kenya and Morocco. It’s been interesting coming back to the same venues.
“It’s a different feeling in a good sense knowing your way around and not having to figure out everything from scratch and knowing a few more people. It’s been a bit smoother than last year which was good.
“This part of the season has been about regaining the consistency that I have been lacking in the last year. That was my biggest issue that my good game was good enough, but I wasn’t bringing out my C- game all the time. I have been doing some work around that and it’s starting to pay off a little bit, hoping I can keep that flow going and a few putts drop and that will be great.”
The 2024 Women’s NSW Open is taking place at Magenta Shores Golfs & Country Club on the Central Coast of New South Wales.
Even though Kobori hasn’t played the course before, she has spoken to her fellow players who have and is expecting a challenging week.
She added: “It looks good and linksy. I have spoken to a couple of the Aussie girls who have played here, and they said it can play pretty tough especially with it being so close to the ocean, the wind will get up. I’m expecting it to blow a gale and if it doesn’t, that’s a bonus.”
Follow all the action throughout the 2024 season on our socials – @LETgolf on Instagram, TikTok and X, and Ladies European Tour on YouTube and Facebook – #RaiseOurGame #NSWOpen.
