Denmark’s Puk Lyng Thomsen had a fantastic start to her career last season on the LET Access Series after no missed cuts, three top 10 finishes and a win at the Vasteras Open by Elite Hotels.
Heartbreakingly, Thomsen missed out on an LET card by 349.52 points and instead headed to the final stage of Q School in December.
At Q School, rounds of 75, 75, 70 and 73 saw Thomsen fall short of playing the final round and this year Thomsen returns to the season opener, the Terre Blanche Ladies Open more determined than ever.
“After Q School, I was of course disappointed but also frustrated. My long game was the best that I’ve had all year, but my putter stopped me from performing well.”
Last year, Thomsen balanced a professional golf career with studying Business Economics at Aalborg University.
“It was tough last year, I feel it was a bit too stressful so I’ve been extended my semester this spring, so two classes this spring then I will do my big project in the fall.
“Last year my goal was to place in the top six and I was in the top six for a long time during the season. I was disappointed at the end of the season, but I also knew that I had tried to manage my education and a full schedule on tour at the same time.
“It was stressful and this year I’ve learnt that and found ways to make it better.”
Thomsen placed fifth on the LETAS Rookie of the Year list and now is excited to return more seasoned in her second year.
“I learned a lot of things last year; the biggest lesson was learning that if you are on tour you must enjoy it. You must enjoy where you are now and not strive for too much perfection.
“I also learnt to take better care of myself. We have so many tournaments and it’s great to play all of them, but you don’t need too.
“There is such a great society on tour, I made so many new friends. We are all there because we love golf, and we love playing golf so it’s amazing to be around people with the same goals and the same hobby”.
Thomsen’s first event of 2024 will be the Terre Blanche Ladies Open where last year, after the final round was cut, the Dane finished 25th.
“I haven’t been looking at the specific courses, but I see that we’re starting at Terre Blanche, and I’ve been there last year as well, so that was a great course and I’m looking forward to that.
“It was very pretty and hopefully the weather’s better this year. I’m praying it will be as it is a bit later.
“Not that I didn’t enjoy it last year, but I think I also mentally was very focused on the results and the rank and all that. So, this season I will try to put that a bit more to the side. I know what my goals are of course, but if i try to enjoy it a little bit more, the results will follow.”
The 25-year-old has had a difficult time since 2020. Whilst an amateur the Dane played in the PING Junior Solheim Cup and achieved a career best ranking of 13 on WAGR but a severe back injury that required surgery meant no play during the 2020 and 2021 season.
It’s been a long road back for Thomsen, but she firmly believes her second season on LETAS will be successful.
The Terre Blanche Ladies Open starts on April 12th.
Follow all the action throughout our 2024 season on our socials on @letaccess on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok and LET Access Series on Facebook – #RaiseOurGame.
