Ladies European Tour lands in Czech Republic for first time at Raiffeisenbank Prague Golf Masters
Ladies European Tour is all set to return to Prague, Czech Republic, for the first time after its inception and will boost of some of the young and finest players on the tour. The €200,000 Raiffeisenbank Prague Golf Masters is set to tee-off on Friday, September
9, and will be the last event on the LET calendar before the tour will finally move to the coveted Solheim Cup, where American and European Tour teams will be locked in a fierce battle for glory.
Rookie, Klára Spilková will be the sole representative of Czech Republic and will have the advantage of playing on the home course for the first time. Not only that, Spilková is the youngest player on the tour at the age of 16, and in case she goes all the
way to lift the title, she will be the second youngest player on the tour to post a victory after Amy Yang, who won the 2006 ANZ Ladies Masters as an amateur at the age of 16 years, six months and eight days.
“I’m very, very excited because this is my home. I live just 40 minutes from here so I’ve played here a lot of times and I know this golf course. It’s new and I really like it,” said the young Spilkova, who has played well for the season, pulling in three
top-ten finishes in her eight starts. Her highest performance came at the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco, where she finished for a joint seventh.
The par-72 Albatross Golf Resort was recently voted as the second best golf course in the country by the Golf Digest polls and is equipped with state of the art amenities and leisurely perks. Considering hordes of tourists that pour in during this time of
the year, the event is likely to lure in huge crowds towards the weekend.
Hertfordshire’s Lucy Williams will also be under the scrutiny of critics as she will be making her debut in the event after a brilliant victory at 2011 English Women’s Amateur Championship at West Sussex, in May. She is primarily playing in the event on
the Tour’s invitation. She will be strengthened by the presence of her father, David Williams, on the bag who has been a former European Tour professional for 18 long years and is currently the director of the tour.
Williams said, “I’m really looking forward to it and it’s good that my dad’s on the bag. He’s going to try to carry my Tour bag as well so it should be quite amusing: possibly the most amusing part of the week.”
Williams took up the family sport not later than the age of 14 and is currently a student at the Birmingham University, on the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme. She is hoping to switch ranks and turn professional in a matter of weeks.
Lalla Meryem Cup champion, Zuzana Kamasova from Slovakia is also one of the players who has the experience of playing in the country and although, she has not played the Albatross, she will be hoping to bag another title before the season comes to an end.
Kamasova said, “I’m super impressed because I know there are a lot of nice golf courses in Czech Republic but this is really nice.”
Other important players on the field includes Diana Luna, Laura Davies, Caroline Masson, Ashleigh Simon, Lee-Anne Pace and Becky Brewerton, all of whom have either won an event in the current year or have been in contention for the same. Davies will also
be playing for the first time in Czech Republic.
The tournament will be played on 36 holes with the final on Saturday. The halfway cut will be placed on top-50 players and ties that will proceed to the third round.
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