We round-up the standout rookie performances on the Ladies European Tour (LET) after the first three events of the 2023 season…
Magical Kenya Ladies Open
The opening event of the 2023 LET season gave us a chance to see a plethora of rookies in action for the first time.
While Aditi Ashok dominated the field to land her fourth LET title, several Q-School graduates made a big impact during a testing week at the Magical Kenya Ladies Open.
Leading the way was Thailand’s April Angurasaranee, who finished T2 on -3 after a solid opening three rounds.
“This week has been so far beyond my expectations,” she said. “Finishing tied second is amazing. Mentally it clicked, but I just tried to be myself out there, to hit good shots and make as many putts as I could.”
One below her was Australia’s Gabi Ruffels who finished fourth on -2. Also making it into the top-10 were Japan’s Yuri Onishi, who finished fifth on level-par, and Denmark’s Amelie Leth-Nissen and Sweden’s Sara Kjellker, who both ended the week T7 on +2.
Lalla Meryem Cup
Week two took us to Morocco for the Lalla Meryem Cup at Royal Golf Dar Es Alaam’s Blue Course. After a string of rookies performed well in Kenya, several graduates again made their mark as Maja Stark took home the win.
France’s Nastasia Nadaud made the cut in her first event as a professional to finish T28. Scotland’s Louise Duncan placed T24, and Germany’s Polly Mack finished T13 after a strong finish on day three.
Further up, Italy’s Alessandra Fanali opened with a 71 (-2) to surge into early contention. Last year’s Italian Open runner-up then carded two consecutive rounds of 72 (E) to finish T7.
“It was a very good week overall,” Fanali said. “I had my boyfriend caddying for me and the vibes around me were very positive, so that helped me a lot for sure.
“I felt I could have had a good week because my game was on point and I really liked the golf course from the beginning. Kenya didn’t really suit my game, but Morocco was a lot more like the kind of courses I like to play.“
Two shots better than her was Switzerland’s Albane Valenzuela. The 25-year-old bounced back from a 74 (+1) on day one to card rounds of 70-69 to soar up the leaderboard and finish fourth in her first event of the season.
Aramco Saudi Ladies International
It was all about Valenzuela again as the big names ascended on Royal Greens Golf & Country Club for the fourth edition of the Aramco Saudi Ladies International presented by Public Investment Fund.
After topping the rookie charts in Morocco, the Olympian repeated the feat as rounds of 68-66-71-69 saw her finish T9 among a star-studded leaderboard.
“It’s been really fun so far,” Valenzuela said. “Last week the course was unbelievable and I thought the food was great. It was just a really good test of golf and I thought it was a really good way to just see how my game measured against some of the other players.
“I feel like the work in the off-season is definitely paying off. Sometimes you come out the off-season and you’re a little bit of rusty. You need to get that rust out in competition. But Morocco was really fun and I loved it. And this week was also really fun. It’s so well organised and the course is great.”
Elsewhere, Germany’s Aline Krauter made the most of her invite as she opened with rounds of 72-67 to make the cut. The Stanford graduate would eventually finish in T51.
After three weeks, Valenzuela leads the way in the LET Rookie of the Year standings on 296.25 points. Angurasaranee is second on 275.00 points, while Ruffels sits in third on 180.00 points. The full standings can be found here.
