The Ladies European Tour is set to welcome its first representative from Hungary after amateur Csilla Lajtai Rózsa finished in a tie for 17th place at Lalla Aicha Tour School, earning eligibility for Membership in Category 8a.
With rounds of 74, 71, 75, 66 and 73, the 17-year-old from Budapest finished on a total of one under par.
Csilla, pronounced ‘Chilla’ in English, or ‘Chi-Chi’ for short, is now planning to turn professional and become one of a handful of LET members from Eastern Europe.
Csilla is too young to remember the OTP Bank Central European Open which was played in Hungary on the LET from 2004-2006, but her achievement is expected to have a significant impact on the development of golf in her country.
Prior to qualifying for the LET, Csilla was a member of the LET Access Series in 2014 where she remained as an amateur with her best finish a tie for 45th place at the Association Suisse de Golf Ladies Open.
She was first introduced to golf at the age of eight by her TV commentator uncle, Peter Lajtai, who took her to a golf show called ‘Golfstar Gala’ in Hungary.
“I really loved it, got to hit some balls and the guy who took it told me I was gifted and that stuck in my head. I was eight so it was a big deal for me,” she said.
“I had to wait three years, because the courses were all pretty far from us and when I was 11 a course opened 10 minutes from where we lived and the only woman coach at that time wanted to work with girls so she took me in and I started to play. After a year I decided I was going to be a pro and I took to home school the following year.”
Her victories as an amateur in 2013 included the Hungarian Junior and Amateur Opens, the Harder German Junior Girls and the FCWT at Champions Gate. She was also a member of the winning Junior Vagliano Trophy team representing the Continent of Europe.
