After a fantastic week in Morocco for the Madaef Golfs Ladies Open by Saidia Resorts, where England’s Thalia Martin emerged triumphant in a four-hole playoff, LETAS now heads to Portugal for the Super Bock Ladies Open at Vidago Palace.
It will be a historic week, with this event marking Portugal’s return to hosting a tournament on the women’s professional circuit after an eight year hiatus.
The first edition of the Super Bock Ladies Open at Vidago Palace will be played from May 6-8 across 54 holes with 126 players competing for a €50,000 prize fund.
Before the tournament gets underway, here are a few talking points to look out for…
SUSAN RIBEIRO RETURNING TO COMPETITION
A Portuguese flag has been a rare sight in the field entries across recent years on both the LET and LETAS.
Susan Ribeiro, who played mainly on LETAS between 2013-2020 is returning to professional competition this week.
Ribeiro has the best record of all time in Portugal. She was a three-time national amateur champion (2013,2014 and 2015), national professional champion (2015, 2016, 2017, 2019), had the best-ever result by a Portuguese player in seven years of the Azores Ladies Open on the LETAS (10th place, with +5, in 2016), and the best-ever result by a Portuguese player in LET tournaments (32nd place, with +2, at the 2019 Spanish Open).
Now Ribeiro works as a coach and golf TV commentator but she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to tee it up in her home country in a professional tournament for the first time since 2017.
STAR PORTUGESE AMATEURS IN THE FIELD
This tournament is an investment in the future for the Portuguese federation and many eyes will be on how the top Portugese amateurs peform.
There are two current national champions in the field, the U18 champion, Inês Belchior and the U16 champion, Amélia Gabin.
Belchior is expected to be the standout figure of the Portuguese players.
In addition to being the under-18 national champion she is also the current two-time absolute national champion (2022 and 2024), and this year she shone at the highest level in Morocco, when she took advantage of an FPG invitation to compete in the LET and finished in 62nd place (+9) at the 28th edition of the Lalla Meryem Cup in Rabat.
It was only the fourth time a Portuguese player made the cut in an LET tournament.
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This tournament, the third event on the LETAS calendar, is a major milestone not only for women’s sports in Portugal but also for the development of national golf.
This comeback is driven by the joint effort of the Portuguese Golf Federation (FPG), Super Bock, Vitalis, Porto and North Tourism Board, and the Portuguese Institute for Sports and Youth (IPDJ), placing Portugal back on the map of European and international women’s golf.
To follow all the action from the tournament visit letaccess.com and follow @LETAccess on Facebook, Instagram and X – #Access2LET.
