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| From right: last year’s winner Line Vedel and her mother Susanne |
This week the Ladies European Tour returns to the beautiful and scenic Golf Resort Talé in Brezno for the fourth edition of the Allianz Ladies Slovak Open presented by Respect.
So far, all three of the previous winners of the tournament have enjoyed a maiden victory, so the question is, will the trend continue this week?
There are two former champions in the field of competitors, with last year’s winner Line Vedel of Denmark and Spain’s Maria Hernandez, who won the title in 2010. Sweden’s Caroline Hedwall, who won her first tournament as a professional here in 2011, is absent however her non-identical twin sister Jacqueline has received an invitation and will aiming for a first victory.
With Solheim Cup points at a premium this year, the event has attracted the strongest field so far, with a number of prospective European team members, including Charley Hull, Trish Johnson, Diana Luna, Melissa Reid, Gwladys Nocera, Minea Blomqvist, Mikaela Parmlid and Laura Davies in the field.
Of those players, both Hull and Parmlid will be hunting their maiden victories. LET rookie Hull, 17, leads the LET’s ISPS Handa Order of Merit after five runner-up finishes in her first five tournaments of the season and will be looking to go one better.
The number one player from Eastern Europe, Zuzana Kamasova, who won the 2011 Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco, placed well in the 2010 and 2011 events and is a member at Gray Bear Golf Club. She is joined by three of her countrywomen in Aneta Abrahamova, Katarina Chovancova, Natalia Heckova, who are all amateurs.
Czech star Klára Spilkova has also played twice in this event and is a popular regional player with high expectations.
In addition to the Europeans, South African Lee-Anne Pace will be one to watch. The recent Turkish Airlines Ladies Open champion is currently fourth on the ISPS Handa Order of Merit. Tenth ranked Beth Allen and Ladies European Tour rookie Cheyenne Woods from the United States will be in the hunt for a first LET victory along with Thailand’s Nontaya Srisawang, who won a car after a hole-in-one at the tournament two years ago.
The Allianz Ladies Slovak Open presented by Respect will be held on June 20-23 and will see 126 players compete over four rounds of stroke play for a purse of €250,000, with €37,500 for the winner. Solheim Cup points are available for European players earning a top 10 finish, with 40 for the champion and 24 for the runner-up. This is the tenth tournament of 23 events on the LET schedule this year.
Situated in a valley within the Low Tatras, Golf Resort Talé is set against one of the most spectacular backdrops on tour with verdant fairways and dense coniferous forests and their rich fauna includes bear, wolf and lynx. In addition to golf, the resort is also popular with climbers and skiers in winter and there is even a ski-slope and lift opposite the clubhouse.
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| The clubhouse and surrounding golf course at Golf Resort Talé |
