At the age of 20, Chiara Horder joined a prestigious list of players like Leona Maguire, Celine Boutier and Anna Nordqvist by winning the 2023 Women’s Amateur Championship.
That same year, the German golfer played two Majors, the Amundi Evian Championship and AIG Women’s Open, and was paired with Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom.
“It was unbelievable, the course were so hard but it was cool to play alongside the best players in the world,” Horder, 23, said. “I remember my first Major at the Evian, I played with Madelene Sagstrom and she was super nice.
“Two weeks later, I saw her at the British Open and she came up to me at the putting green and we chatted. We talked about how undulated everything was at the Evian, and sometimes you can get pretty bad or unlucky bounces.
“She was like, ‘I don’t think you’re gonna get as many unlucky bounces this week, or something like that. It was quite funny.”
Playing on home soil for the first time in her rookie LET Access Series (LETAS) season, Horder is counting on support from her loved ones for a strong week in Wuppertal.
“My boyfriend is gonna come,” she said. “He plays on the Pro Golf Tour and they play in Cologne right now. It’s like 40 minutes away so he’s gonna caddy for me in the first round which I’m very excited about.
“It’s such a cool opportunity to play in Germany because it’s just one event for one the season, so it’s nice. It’s nice seeing all the familiar faces, hearing a lot of German around me. I feel very comfortable.”
In her first full season as a professional, Horder has already recorded two top-20 finishes, coming tied-14th at the Allegria Ladies Open in Austria and tied-17th at last week’s Czech Ladies Challenge.
“It’s crazy because you still play the same sport and everything, but just the environment is so different to amateur golf,” she said. I’m still trying to figure out a lot of stuff, and still trying to feel more comfortable, but there’s a lot of nice people around here. I have a lot of friends, which makes it easier.
“Czechia was a really tough week. Conditions were super hard, but I kind of like those weeks because you have to fight for pars and make a lot of up and downs and I like those weeks. So, yeah, I’m happy about the result.
“Over here, it’s very hilly again. I’m glad I have my electro trolley with me. I like harder courses, and it’s windy over the last couple days, so yeah, I’m just excited for the challenge.”
