The first stop on the 2021 LET Access Series calendar returns players to Golf & Spa Resort Konopiste in the Czech Republic for the AMUNDI Czech Ladies Challenge, from June 3-5.
Greeting the 86-player field in Bystrice, Czechia, is a total purse of €37,500. Individuals are set to compete in a 54-hole stroke-play format with a cut to the low 45 players and ties after 36 holes.
Action gets underway at 8:00 a.m. local time and starts off No. 1 tee on all three days with play.
Three LETAS winners on the tee
Three players will push for another LETAS title. Niina Liias is striving to follow her fellow Finnish golfers Sanna Nuutinen and Tiia Koivisto who claimed the Czech Ladies Challenge victory in 2019 and 2020, respectively. She said: “Tiia pretty much told us that one of the Finns has to win this event to make a hat-trick. So that is the goal for the tournament.”
Rachael Goodall is the highest ranked player on the 2020 LETAS Order of Merit entering the tournament and plans to build on previous experience. “Last time I played here I had a good finish so I would love to add another win,” hopes Goodall. “I really like this course. Out of the ones we have played in the Czech Republic this has got to be my favourite one.”
One of the players who entered last week’s Ladies Italian Open is Diksha Dagar of India who is happy to be back in the Czech Republic. She said: “I am starting to play after a long break after dealing with back injury. I am here to test myself, see if I am physically fit to play tournaments.”
Several Czech stars at first stop
Hosted by the Czech Golf Federation, there will be 29 Czech talents teeing off in the tournament including 25 amateurs.
Leading the Czechs will be the highest ranked professional Katerina Vlasinova who has started the season on the South African Sunshine Ladies Tour and is starting in her fourth consecutive Czech Ladies Challenge.
The entry list includes many Czech amateurs, including the country’s No. 1 and the highest ranked amateur in the field Sara Kouskova. The Prague native will be teeing off in her 15th professional event as she plans to turn professional after graduating from the University of Texas next May.
“Any opportunity to compete against the professional field is valuable and serves as great preparation for the coming years,” said Kouskova. “My goals here are mostly process oriented: sticking to the routines and committing to the shots. I am also hoping for a rather fast adjustment to the grass here.”
Targeting her first win in a professional start will be Czech amateur Tereza Melecka. She finished tied for second and was awarded the best amateur of the tournament in both 2018 and 2019. “Of course, I would like to finally secure the win,” admits Melecka. “The two second places definitely gave me the confidence a peace of mind.”
