LET No.1 Klára Spilková is preparing for a different test this week at the inaugural Mediterranean Ladies Open at Club de Golf Terramar in Sitges, Spain.
With wide open fairways and large greens, the par-71 course at Club de Golf Terramar on the Mediterranean coast presents a contrasting challenge to the narrow Blue Course at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Rabat and Spilková said: “You need to focus on the greens, because they are pretty big, and it’s not the longest golf course. I think it’s not the hardest golf course we’ve ever played, but the condition is good and the fairways and greens are really nice.”
Since winning her first tournament on Sunday at the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco, where she became the first Czech player to win a Ladies European Tour event, the 22-year-old from Prague has been overwhelmed with congratulations messages. She said: “I have been on my phone for three days, almost day and night, but it’s really nice.”
“I went into the Players’ Lounge after my press conference on Sunday and I got millions of messages. I checked my Facebook and everybody posted so many things. I had videos of people crying, they were so happy for me! It was really powerful. I wasn’t crying, but they were! It was something really special. Even Gary Player posted a message of congratulations on Twitter and I thought, ‘Oh my God! Is this real?’ I took a screen shot and I posted on Facebook and Instagram as well. It was so cool!
“There will be a big celebration at home next week and maybe on Sunday night in Barcelona, because our flight is at 6am on Monday, so maybe we will be awake all night, but now I want to turn my phone off and focus on this week and play well, because I think I’m in good shape.”
After nine holes on Tuesday and another nine on Wednesday, she added: “It was pretty good, really solid, so I want to keep it going.”
Spilková has returned to meditation to regain her focus, as it helped her to achieve inner calm during the Lalla Meryem Cup.
She said: “In Morocco I did it in the morning, after the round and in the evening, so almost all day! I did some this morning, because there was so much going on and I felt like, ‘that’s enough, leave me alone!’”
Spilková will be back in action tomorrow morning in the first round, teeing off at 8.10am from the 10th hole with the recent Open de España Femenino champion, Azahara Muñoz and the Oates Vic Open winner, Melissa Reid.
