Austrian Emma Spitz fired a superb four-under-par 68 to take the early clubhouse lead on the opening day at the Åland 100 Ladies Open by Alandsbanken in Finland.
The 22-year-old from just outside Vienna was joined in a three-way share of the lead by Sweden’s Sofie Bringner and Finland’s Ursula Wikstrom after eight and 10 holes respectively.
Home hope Wikstrom, who started from the ninth, sank a five metre putt on the 18th green to tie for the lead and a loud cheer could be heard around Ålands Golf Club. Wikstrom had earlier birdied the 11th, 14th and 17th holes, but she then bogeyed the first to drop back to three-under-par.
The 42-year-old from Espoo, playing in her 296th tournament on the LET, is still eager to earn her first LET title and would love nothing better than for it to come in her home tournament in Finland, where she has enjoyed consistent success over the years. Three of her eight runner-up finishes have come from eight appearances in this tournament, in 2005, 2008 and 2021.
Before her round, she said: “I love to play in Finland and in front of the home crowds; it always gives you this extra something. There is no pressure, it’s just inspirational. I still enjoy the game and feel like I can compete and I will continue as long as I feel like this.
“My favourite moment was when I went head-to-head with Minea Blomqvist at Helsinki Golf Club, known as “Tali”, in 2008. We’d been playing against each other since we were juniors so that moment in front of the home crowd was really special.”
Spitz played her last four holes in five-under-par, with a tap-in eagle on 15, followed by three straight birdies. The two-time PING Junior Solheim Cup player said that the key was playing to the safer side of the greens.
“On this course, when it gets windy, you have to play safe and aim for the middle of the green. The course is fun. The greens are in perfect condition and it’s a really good test. If you play well, you can make birdies, but if you make mistakes there are some bad scores out there as well. The greens are easier for me to read than last week, so I felt good,” she said.
Spitz made her professional debut in last week’s Skaftö Open, where she tied for 10th place and she would have turned pro sooner, but wanted to ensure her place at Final Qualifying tournament for the LPGA and LET by being in the top five in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
The experience of being in contention at the Tipsport Czech Ladies Open two months ago, where she tied for sixth as an amateur, also gave her the confidence to believe that she was ready to take the leap to playing golf professionally.
“I think it’s been really good to play as an amateur on LET first and then start as a pro. From the beginning on, I just tried to not change anything. I had put in so much work before and it worked out fine so I was just trying to play the same game and not put any extra pressure on myself,” continued Spitz, who studied Psychology at UCLA.
Sweden’s Isabella Deilert is in the clubhouse on two-under-par. Deilert fired three birdies in her first seven holes, at the third, fourth and seventh and bogeyed the ninth before coming home with nine steady pars.
“It was a bit calmer this morning so I had a good start. I holed a really good putt on the third and in the end I struggled a bit with my wedges, but I’m happy with my day,” said the 28-year-old from Stockholm, who brought her car across to Åland on the Viking ferry. “I’m so happy to be here. It’s beautiful and everybody speaks Swedish, so it feels like home.”
Deilert had journeyed to Åland once before as a youngster on a soccer camp, but was pleasantly surprised by her most recent visit with the LET tournament.
“I’m so impressed with the facilities here at the golf club. I could definitely see myself coming here to train, on my own. The short game area is great but also the course itself, you can find any type of shots and the conditions are so pure, it’s a really high level.”
As play continued under sunny skies with temperatures at 13C, the Comunidad de Madrid Ladies Open champion Ana Pelaez Trivino from Spain was two-under-par after nine holes and a further eight players, including Finland’s Noora Komulainen, were on one-under-par.
