Nobuhle Dlamini
Nobuhle Dlamini held her nerve on the final day at PalmGolf Marrakesh Palmeraie to win Pre-Qualifier A and book her place in the Final Stage of Lalla Aicha Tour School in Morocco.
The big-hitting Swazi golfer finished with a 72-hole total of four-under-par, ending two strokes ahead of Alazne Urlzar from Venezuela, after both players shot last-day 71s.
Nigerian amateur Georgia Oboh tied for third with English amateur Sara Gee on level par.
The top 36 players will advance to the Final Stage of Lalla Aicha Tour School, to be held at Amelkis Golf Club and PalmGolf Marrakesh Ourika from Friday 16th to Tuesday 20th December.
“It feels really, really good. It’s been a while since I won,” said Dlamini, who claimed her breakthrough professional victory in the South African Sunshine Ladies Tour’s SuperSport Ladies Challenge at the Wild Coast Sun Country Club in March.
“I’m really happy. I stuck to my game plan, which was difficult, because I was under pressure from the word ‘Go’. My plan was to hit fairways, because it is so tough to hit out of the rough. I missed a couple of fairways and made some good up and downs.
“It got a bit stressful on the front nine because I missed a few fairways and it was quite tough to make up and downs coming from the rough and palm trees come into nine. I turned in level par and the back nine was quite solid. I didn’t putt as well as I should have, but overall I’m really happy.
“I was trailing by one heading into 17 and I’m pleased I was able to get the birdie and then make a par on 18. It’s my birthday on Tuesday, so maybe I’ll get a nice surprise when I get home.”
Dlamini will spend much of her 27th birthday in the air, as she has a long journey ahead of her and several weeks of work lie ahead.
“I’m flying to the east, to Doha, then down to South Africa, so I get home at 2.30pm, but it will be a happy journey,” she said.
“I’ve still got some work to do on my full swing and my putting. I wasn’t quite ready when I came here and I still have some work to do on my technique, so I’ll be working on that in Johannesburg but my coach, Warwick Druian just moved to England, so we’ll be doing some mobile coaching.”
Click here to see the full list of qualifiers.
Pre-qualifier C takes place at Angkor Golf Resort in Cambodia on November 7-10, followed by Pre-Qualifier B at Amelkis Golf Club in Morocco on December 7-10.
