Florentyna Parker hoping to defend title as Deloitte Ladies Open swings back in action on the Ladies European Tour
Golfclub Broekpolder in Rotterdam is ready to host this week’s Deloitte Ladies Open as the ladies European Tour (LET) swings back in action on Friday, June 3. Englishwoman Florentyna Parker will be testing her skills to retain the title she won 12 months
back at the scenic Rotterdam course.
Parker won last year’s tournament by two shots and it is always refreshing for players to return to their favourite hunting grounds, especially if it is the place where they have bagged their maiden victory.
Parker has been looking to break her runner-up taboo for a long time and feels that her game is improving with each event she plays. A Royal Birkdale golfer, Parker was runner-up in last month’s Turkish Airlines Ladies Open where Christel Boeljon of Netherlands
won her maiden title.
“My game is peaking at just the right time.” said parker. “At the moment I’m driving the ball very well and that’s my strength. I’m fairly straight and quite long off the tee. What I struggle with is probably making the birdies. I need to hole out a bit
better and that’s what I’ve been working on.”
Parker has called back her make-shift caddie, her cousin Ella, who has caddied for her in last year’s event, hoping to do everything the right way.
“Last year, it was a great week and we had great weather. With my cousin Ella on the bag, we had a great time. Hopefully we can do the same,” Parker said. “Hitting my three-wood onto the green at the last and being able to three-putt if I wanted to and then
making a birdie, was a nice finish.”
Parker, however, will be facing stiff resistance from the budding European ladies golfers, most of whom are eyeing a spot in the upcoming Solheim Cup in September. Boeljon, will be playing on her home course and is probably the strongest player on the tour
given her consistent performance since the beginning of the season. The Dutchwoman won her maiden title in Turkey last month and finished runner-up in last week’s Allianz ladies Slovak Open at Tale’.
Swedish Caroline Hedwall, will be another threatening prospect for Parker and seems to be doing all the right things for the moment. She won her maiden title last week at Slovakia and went over to win the hybrid PowerPlay Golf in England. She took over the
strong men’s field which included the likes of Graeme McDowell, Paul Casey and Ian Woosnam.
Ashleigh Simon, Diana Luna, Kristie Smith, and Zuzana Kamasova are some of the other high performing players in the event who have all won a title this season.
Deloitte Ladies Open was first held in 1986 and has been staged in continuation since 2004. The total purse for this year’s event has been designated to be €250,000, with €37,500 as the winner’s share.
Tags: