Two years ago, Morocco’s Ines Laklalech teed it up at the inaugural Saudi Ladies International as an amateur and this year she will return as a professional having earnt her LET card.
The 24-year-old, who is from Casablanca, first heard about golf when she was 10 and her dad had a lesson at the local club.
Laklalech went with her father to the Royal Golf d’Anfa and practised all summer long to try and hit it as far as she could.
“My dad had his lesson, and I was hitting next to him, at first it looked very easy, and I didn’t understand how people were struggling with it,” she said.
“But it was a challenge for me, and I was seeing little boys at the other end of the range hitting it far, so my challenge was that by the end of the summer I would be among their group. I ended up going every day that summer.
“By the end I ended up being quite good at golf and managed to get into the boys’ group and beating them. They had played for one or two years, and I had played for three months, and I started beating them. That competitive side really got me into the sport.”
After joining the national team at the age of 12, Laklalech played in the African Championship and the World Amateur Championships twice before heading to study at Wake Forest.
But the Moroccan decided college life wasn’t for her as she didn’t believe she would end up with golf as her career, so she left and went to the UK, studying Management Science at UCL in London.
During that time, Laklalech stopped playing golf and it was only when she returned home after graduating that the new Technical Director in the Moroccan Federation saw her play golf and encouraged her to get back involved in the sport.
“I had to start again, replay, and find my old sensations, and that’s what I’ve done for the last two years until now,” she continued.
“In 2019 I played the European Championship, French Championship, Austrian Championship, but I didn’t have a crazy amateur career with loads of wins, because I was more focused on my studies and didn’t think I would have a professional career.
“Because of Covid I didn’t get to play many of these tournaments, and played maybe 15 tournaments in those two years, but I got a decent experience from these two years and my background to be able to make it on the LET after getting my card at Q-School in December.”
Laklalech secured her place on the LET for 2022 at Q-School by finishing T15 in the Final Qualifier at La Manga Club, while she was still an amateur and turned professional afterwards.
Now the UCL graduate is ready to make her professional debut on the LET and playing in an Arabic country at the Aramco Saudi Ladies International present by Public Investment Fund makes it more special.
She explained: “I’m very happy to be playing the Aramco Saudi Ladies International, it was the first LET event I played in 2020 and I made the cut. It was a great tournament and experience before, I loved it, particular because it’s in an Arab country that makes it even more special.
“It’s amazing seeing such a strong field. I wouldn’t have thought you could play competitive golf in Saudi before, especially a women’s event. Seeing a professional golf event in Jeddah is really good for the future of golf and women in general in the Arab world.
“In 2011 I went to Meccah with my family for the week, which was a lot different than travelling with the LET because it was a spiritual trip. It will be my third time in the country and I’m excited to play here again because the course is great, and the windy conditions can make it very interesting.”
The debut of the Aramco Saudi Ladies International back in 2020 was a landmark moment for women’s sport within the Kingdom as it became the first ever professional, international women’s sporting event to be held in Saudi Arabia.
More than 1,000 Saudi women and girls signed up to learn to play golf over the course of tournament weekend as part of Golf Saudi’s Ladies First Club free coaching initiative, and Laklalech knows how important it is to have role models.
The rookie isn’t the only Arabic player on Tour, with compatriot Maha Haddioui leading the way, and Laklalech is thankful to have been able to follow in her footsteps.
“I’m now very excited to be professional, when I started if anyone told me I would become a professional golfer I wouldn’t have believed them,” she said.
“There wasn’t a lot of women playing the sport in Morocco but obviously Maha [Haddoui] played an incredible role. It’s incredible what Maha did, she was the first woman in Morocco, in the Arab world, to ever make it.
“Having someone from your country make it makes it more of a dream that can come true because you can identify more easily with someone from the same country as you who has the same resources. She is playing an important and very inspiring role in golf for Morocco, and now that I’m the second woman on Tour I hope there will be any more after us.”
With it being her first season on Tour, and first as a professional, Laklalech is hoping to learn as much as she possibly can.
She added: “For this week and for the whole season, I want to keep on learning every single day and take as much experience as I can from this year and every day. I’m expecting a lot of highs and lows, and my goal is to enjoy every part of it. I’m very grateful to be a part of a major tour like the LET.
“For this week my goal is to achieve my best potential for the week, I don’t know what that is against these girls yet – we’ll see throughout the year – but I just have to try my best on every single shot and have no regrets.”
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