Amy Boulden Photo: Alexandru Mitrea
Amy Boulden from Wales clinched a six-hole play-off against Kelly Tidy and Sally Watson to earn her first professional title at the Association Suisse de Golf Ladies Open on the Ladies European Tour Access Series (LETAS) on Sunday.
The 20-year-old from Conwy Golf Club began the final round of the 54-hole event at Golf club Gams-Werdenberg in eastern Switzerland with a one stroke lead.
The Ladies European Tour rookie professional played solidly for 16 holes picking up birdies on the fourth and 16th, both par fives but faltered on 17 where she made a ‘good bogey.’
Boulden then missed a putt of six feet on hole-18 to win outright, while Watson and Tidy birdied the hole to force the play-off.
Watson was eliminated with a bogey at first play-off hole, the par-five 18th. Boulden and Tidy played the 18th four times before playing the par-five ninth twice.
“Kelly hit right into the hazard off the tee on nine and had to take a drop as it was an environmentally sensitive area, so she lost a shot and I won with a par,” explained Boulden, a member of the winning Great Britain and Ireland Curtis Cup team in 2012.
On winning her first professional title, she said: “I’m obviously thrilled and especially with it being the first event of the season on the LETAS circuit. I’m going straight to Turkey for the Turkish Airlines Ladies Open on the Ladies European Tour so it’s nice to get some confidence going.”
Boulden played at National Golf Club late last year when it hosted the Mineks Ladies Open on LETAS and added: “I’m looking forward to returning to the venue and some good weather!”
The final round of the ASG Ladies Open, staged at the foothills of the Swiss Alps, was played under clear skies but in a slight breeze and Boulden said: “Everyone was laughing at me ‘cos I was playing in shorts!”
After Boulden defeated former fellow European PING Junior Solheim Cup team members Watson and Tidy, another former Junior Solheim Cup player, Klara Spilkova of the Czech Republic, finished four strokes behind on three-under-par in outright fourth place.
German amateur Olivia Cowen finished in share of fifth with Italian Anna Rossi on two-under-par, with four further players a stroke behind on one-under.
They included Sweden’s Emma Westin, Spain’s Maria Beautell, England’s Abbey Gittings and local player Melanie Mätzler, who helped her father to organise the tournament and coped admirably with the additional pressure of being in the spotlight having fulfilled so many media duties.
Collated Final Scores:
209 – Amy Boulden (WAL) 69 69 71 (won at 6th play-off hole)
Kelly Tidy (ENG) 70 70 69, Sally Watson (SCO) 67 72 70
213 – Klara Spilkova (CZE) 69 75 69
214 – Olivia Cowan (GER) 68 76 70, Anna Rossi (ITA) 71 70 73
215 – Emma Westin (SWE) 67 74 74, Melanie Maetzler (SWI) 73 71 71, Maria Beautell (ESP) 72 71 72, Abbey Gittings (ENG) 71 70 74
216 – Ursula Wikstrom (FIN) 69 71 76, Kim Metraux (SWI) 75 70 71, Lina Boqvist (SWE) 71 71 74, Daisy Nielsen (DNK) 70 74 72, Anna Svenstrup (SWE) 74 73 69, Anna Scott (ENG) 70 77 69
217 – Emma Cabrera-bello (ESP) 70 72 75, Amber Ratcliffe (ENG) 71 75 71
218 – Charlotte Ellis (ENG) 70 72 76, Tara Delaney (IRL) 70 74 74
219 – Carmen Alonso (ESP) 71 72 76, Karolin Lampert (GER) 72 75 72, Chloe Leurquin (BEL) 71 75 73
220 – Emma Nilsson (SWE) 74 71 75, Kelsey Macdonald (SCO) 73 75 72, Lien Willems (BEL) 75 72 73, Linda Henriksson (FIN) 71 76 73, Rachel Goodall (ENG) 73 69 78, Anna Christina Kindgren (COL) 70 78 72, Elina Nummenpaa (FIN) 76 72 72
221 – Elisabetta Bertini (ITA) 74 72 75, Lucie Hinnerova (CZE) 70 76 75, Lucy Williams (ENG) 70 76 75, Camille Fallay (FRA) 73 75 73, Vittoria Valvassori (ITA) 69 78 74
222 – Antonella Cvitan (SWE) 68 74 80, Lisa Anderson (SWE) 72 75 75, Christine Wolf (AUT) 72 71 79, Emma Tayler (ENG) 75 72 75
223 – Daisy Dyer-brierley (ENG) 72 75 76, Charlotte Wild (ENG) 76 72 75, Melodie Bourdy (FRA) 74 73 76, Laura Murray (SCO) 70 75 78, Josefine Sundh (SWE) 70 78 75
224 – Csilla Lajtai-rozsa (HUN) 69 78 77, Stacey Rodger (ENG) 74 72 78
225 – Tamara Scheidegger (SWI) 74 74 77, Gioia Carpenelli (SWI) 72 76 77
226 – Rachel Drummond (ENG) 73 74 79
