Eight out of the top ten players on the 2019 LETAS ranking will compete this week for the Amundi Czech Ladies Challenge title. The thirteenth event on this season’s schedule will once again be played at the stunning Golf Resort Konopište in Bystrice, from the 1 – 3 August.
One hundred and twenty-two players from 25 different countries will compete for the €5,600 first prize and valuable Order of Merit points. At the end of the season, the top 5 players on the rankings will earn a Ladies European Tour card for the 2020 season, and the next 15 players will skip the first stage of the LET Tour School and progress to the final stage.
Laura Gomez Ruiz of Spain currently tops the Order of Merit, claiming her first LETAS title earlier this year at the Montauban Ladies Open, near Toulouse. Gomez Ruiz has enjoyed an easy transition to the professional ranks, winning her first professional title on the Santander Ladies Tour last year in just her fifth start. The young player’s goal for this year is claiming one of those LET cards and she is well placed to do just that.
Players who will be chasing Gomez Ruiz and looking to gain some ground are England’s Hayley Davis and Greta Isabella Voelker from Germany. Davis is yet to win on the LET Access Series but has enjoyed a very solid season, capturing four top 5 finishes. Davis’ best finish of the season came at the opening event of the season, the Terre Blanche Ladies Open, where the 26-year-old lost in a one hole play-off to eventual winner Austrian Sarah Schober.
Voelker has also enjoyed an impressive start to her professional career. The 22-year-old won the Neuchatel Ladies Championship in June and narrowly lost out to Gomez Ruiz at the Montauban Ladies Open, finishing runner up just one shot adrift.
Other players to watch out for this week will be amateurs Elena Moosmann of Switzerland and Tereza Melecka of the Czech Republic. Moosmann won the VP Bank Ladies Open in her home country in May, and Melecka was the top placed amateur in last year’s event, finishing in a tie for second place with England’s Inci Mehmet. Melecka will be joined by 25 Czech amateurs in this week’s field.
Play gets underway on Thursday morning at 7.40 from both the 1st and 10th tees.