Ursula Wikstrom
The Viaplay Ladies Finnish Open, the six event of the LETAS season, starts on Thursday this week with a starting line-up of ninety-one players from 19 different countries. The largest representation comes from Finland, with twenty-two elite amateurs and 11 professionals in the field.
Past winner, Ursula Wikstrom will be hoping to claim the title for a second time after an impressive defence last year of the title she won in 2017. The 38-year-old lost in a five way play-off to eventual winner, Julia Engstrom of Sweden.
Other Finnish players challenging for the trophy will be Noora Komulainen, who will be hoping to improve on her last year’s performance when she missed the cut, and Krista Bakker, a past winner on LETAS, who claimed the Creditgate Golf Series Hamburg Open title in 2015. Sanna Nuutinen is the Finnish player in the best form coming into this week, recording a tie for 2nd at last week’s Lavaux Ladies Championship and currently lying in 11th place on the LETAS rankings.
Swede Emma Nilsson will be another player to watch. The 25-year-old topped the 2018 LETAS Order of Merit title and has enjoyed a solid start to her season on both the LET and LETAS.
England’s Hayley Davis will be hoping to improve on her runner-up placing at the opening event of the season, the Terre Blanche Ladies Open. A final round 74 scuppered Davis’ chance of registering her first win on the LET Access Series. Another player in good form is Chloe Williams, who has worked hard on all areas of her game over the winter months and is starting to bear the fruit. The 24-year-old from Wrexham finishing strongly in last weeks’ Lavaux Ladies Championship, tying for 4th place with Finland’s Niina Liias.
It’s the second year the Viaplay Ladies Finnish Open has been played on the challenging Messilä Golf Course and the 6,074 yard layout will once again prove a tough test for the players.
Play gets underway at 8.00 on Thursday morning from both the 1st and 10th tees.
