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It was the shortest tournament victory in the career of Marianne Skarpnord. But it was also the toughest.
The Norwegian was declared the winner of the South African Women’s Open on Sunday after yet another brutal day of weather on the South Coast. With only the first round having been completed on Friday before the rain hit, the tournament was always under pressure to beat a freak run of weather.
Saturday’s play was completely washed out. Sunday allowed for a few holes of play before first the rain caused a suspension, and then gale force winds hit the course. At around 16:00, with the forecast for Monday showing equally strong winds, the Ladies European Tour and tournament promoters took the decision to declare the winner based on the first round scores alone.
Skarpnord’s three-under-par 69 was therefore good enough for the win. South Africans Ashleigh Simon and Stacy Bregman, Finland’s Minea Blomqvist, England’s Charley Hull, Sweden’s Camilla Lennarth, America’s Katie Burnett and German Nina Holleder all shared second place on tow-under-par 70.
“It’s not the way we all would have liked to end the tournament, but we all understand how difficult the weather was. It was a very challenging week for everybody,” said Skarpnord.
South Africa’s Kim Williams finished as the leading amateur following her round of level-par 72, earning her the Jackie Mercer Trophy.
Scores:
1 Marianne SKARPNORD NOR 69
2 Camilla LENNARTH SWE 70
Stacy Lee BREGMAN RSA 70
Charley HULL ENG 70
Katie BURNETT USA 70
Minea BLOMQVIST FIN 70
Ashleigh SIMON RSA 70
Nina HOLLEDER GER 70
9 Valentine DERREY FRA 71
Cathryn BRISTOW NZL 71
Rebecca HUDSON ENG 71
Line VEDEL DEN 71
Mallory FRAICHE USA 71
Miriam NAGL GER 71
Emily TAYLOR ENG 71
16 Nontaya SRISAWANG THA 72
Sarah KING AUS 72
Melissa EATON RSA 72
Ursula WIKSTROM FIN 72
Nicola EATON RSA 72
Becky BREWERTON WAL 72
Kim WILLIAMS RSA 72
Trish JOHNSON ENG 72
Katy MCNICOLL SCO 72
Lee-Anne PACE RSA 72
Celine PALOMAR FRA 72
27 Holly CLYBURN ENG 73
Alana VAN GREUNING RSA 73
Florentyna PARKER ENG 73
Laurette MARITZ RSA 73
Lucie ANDRE FRA 73
Kylie WALKER SCO 73
Melanie MAETZLER SUI 73
Daniela HOLMQVIST SWE 73
Nikki CAMPBELL AUS 73
Georgina SIMPSON ENG 73
Louise LARSSON SWE 73
Ji Sun KANG KOR 73
Marion RICORDEAU FRA 73
Tania ELOSEGUI ESP 73
Kaisa RUUTTILA FIN 73
Monique SMIT RSA 73
Sophie WALKER ENG 73
44 Zuzana KAMASOVA SVK 74
Joanna KLATTEN FRA 74
Margherita RIGON ITA 74
Linda WESSBERG SWE 74
Titiya PLUCKSATAPORN THA 74
Nikki GARRETT AUS 74
Danielle MONTGOMERY ENG 74
Sophie GIQUEL-BETTAN FRA 74
Nicole BECKER RSA 74
Henriette FRYLINCK RSA 74
Stacey KEATING AUS 74
Mikaela PARMLID SWE 74
56 Malene JORGENSEN DEN 75
Jade SCHAEFFER FRA 75
Yu Yang ZHANG CHN 75
Tandi CUNINGHAM RSA 75
Michaela FLETCHER RSA 75
Maha HADDIOUI MAR 75
Veronica ZORZI ITA 75
Pamela PRETSWELL SCO 75
Connie CHEN RSA 75
Gwladys NOCERA FRA 75
Magda KRUGER RSA 75
Bianca THERON RSA 75
Marjet VAN DER GRAAFF NED 75
