Hayley Davis Photo credit: Manon Guenot
England’s Hayley Davis claimed the 2019 LET Access Series Order of Merit title, as the top points scorer, with 29,576 points.
The 26-year-old from Poole was thrilled with her achievement, rewarding her strong performance throughout the season, highlighted by her first win in the Bossey Ladies Championship and eight further top-10 finishes.
Davis said: “It’s really good, really good. It’s been a long year, my golf’s been a lot better this year and I’ve just played consistently. I think that was the main thing. But to end up winning it was nice. I think it was quite nice to be a bit more relaxed the last few weeks knowing that I had secured my spot. But yeah to win it I’m really pleased.”
Davis started working with a new coach at the beginning of this year and is delighted with the changes she has made with Peter Thompson at Parley Golf Club, and is looking ahead to the challenges next year.
She explained: “I’m just looking forward to it to be honest. I think it’s been nice because I’ve played in a couple of LET events last year and I played a couple this year so I’ve already played in a few and it’s sort of similar to the Access events. It’s very competitive but a nice bunch of girls on both tours so it shouldn’t be too different. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Davis will be joined on the Ladies European Tour by Italy’s Lucrezia Colombotto Rosso, Laura Murray of Scotland, Spain’s Laura Gomez Ruiz and Chloe Williams from Wales. All four players also qualified due to their performances on LETAS this year.
Chloe Williams, Laura Murray, Hayley Davis, Di Barnard (LETAS Tour Director) and Laura Gomez Ruiz
Colombotto Rosso finished in third place on the LETAS Order of Merit, behind Finland’s Sanna Nuutinen, who has already retained her LET card through her performance this year on the main tour. The Italian has held limited LET status this past year but is delighted to gain full playing rights for next season.
Scotland’s Laura Murray propelled herself into contention for a spot on the LET with a win at last week’s Rügenwalder Mühle Ladies Open at Golf am Meer, near Bremen. The win moved the Scot up to 4th place on the order of merit and Murray was able to maintain that position with a tie for 26th at the Road to La Largue Final. The 31-year-old credits the work she has done with her coach and boyfriend Keil Beveridge, and something they worked out in her swing earlier this year, for the strong finish to her season.
“I guess this year season-wise, it became a reality that the top 5 was achievable probably after the dual event with LET and LETAS in the Czech Republic. Because that really catapulted me up the rankings to 12th I think at the time. And prior to that we kind of mid-season found something in my swing that only seemed to have occurred in a tournament. Keel studied a video taken on the course and suddenly since then that next week, for nine events I’ve had seven top 10’s. That helped a lot. I’m really excited to get going.”
Laura Gomez of Spain enjoyed a breakthrough win at the Montauban Ladies Open and not only earned her LET card but also claimed the rookie of the year honours. The 23-year-old from Marbella, who turned professional in July of last year, set her sights on playing consistently during this season, but her mindset changed when she won in just her 6th LETAS event in 2019.
“It feels great. That was my goal and I succeeded. I’m very happy to get the card and to be able to play on the LET next year. My goal was to get the card but I knew I was a rookie so it was going to be really hard to get it. And when I started to play really good and earn points I was like, oh maybe I can really do it. It’s not a too high goal for me. I am very happy,” commented Gomez Ruiz.
Wales’ Chloe Williams needed a strong finish to the year in last week’s final event. With one and a half times points available the 24-year-old knew that she could move far enough up the rankings with a strong performance. Williams did just that with a 3rd place finish earning 4,200 points and crucially moving past Sweden’s Annelie Sjoholm to claim the fifth and final card available.
