Ferndown’s Hayley Davis can’t wait to get started playing again – the 2019 LET Access winner will tee it up in the Rose Ladies Series at Brokenhurst Manor GC, on Thursday.
Picture by TRISTAN JONES

DORSET’S Hayley Davis could not wait for the Rose Ladies Series to get under way today at Brokenhurst Manor.

Davis described the one-day tournaments for women professionals in the UK as “everything” as she prepared to make her return to competitive golf at the New Forest club.

Hayley is poised to tee it up in the first of seven rounds over the next month – plus the recently announced Tour Championship final at Wentworth.

Also in the field are Solheim Cup stars Charley Hull, from Woburn, and recent rookie winner Alice Hewson, from Hertfordshire, who won her first start on the LET in South Africa, in March.

The series has been sponsored by Hampshire’s US Open winner and Olympic gold medallist Justin Rose and his wife Kate.

Ferndown’s Davis earned her place on the Ladies European Tour for 2020, after winning the LET Access Series Order of Merit crown last year.

But with the LET schedule wiped out by the coronavirus pandemic, the 27-year-old is champing at the bit for a chance to compete in the newly-formed UK series.

Asked what Rose’s sponsorship meant for the women’s game, Davis said: “It’s everything. Just that the men understand how it is for the women – and the fact he wanted to do it – means a lot.

“For us, we do just want the chance to go out there and compete again.

“So, the fact we have been given the opportunity, it’s just exciting and amazing that he wanted to do it. It was really good.

“At the end of the day, we are all sports people. We all just want the opportunity to compete.

“There’s a lot of people behind it that want women to have the recognition, because it’s quite big that we are starting to compete before a lot of other sports have been able to.

“It’s just really nice that he wants to do it and understands that we need the opportunity.”

Justin Rose after winning the Gold Medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
Picture by CHRIS CONDON / International Golf Federation

Rose: I had to help women’s game

FORMER World No. 1 Rose, who grew up playing junior golf for Hampshire, was determined to give the women’s game a lift.

Just days after missing out on a play-off at Colonial by a ball’s width with his final putt of the tournament in Texas, the new series bearing his name tees off in Hampshire.

Justin, who watched Florida’s Daniel Berger beat Colin Morikawa in a play–off in the first PGA Tour event in three months on Sunday, said: “I am keenly aware that I now have the opportunity to go back to work and compete on the PGA Tour.

“But this is not the same for the ladies and some junior tours as well.

“To me this seems somewhat unfair. My wife Kate and I felt there was an opportunity to step up and help.

“We wanted to give them the opportunity to play and to be ready for when the opportunities arise later in the summer.”

Last year’s LET Access Series winner Hayley Davis had to wait patiently for starts on the tour in 2020 – only for the COVID-19 crisis to interrupt her season. Picture by MANON GUENOT

Davis and Young to tee off in first group

HAYLEY Davis is set to tee off in the opening group at 10.30am alongside Brokenhurst professional Liz Young.

The LET ace came up with the idea of the Brokenhurst Manor Women’s Open earlier this month – before Rose offered to back a whole series of events as the idea snowballed.

“I am just really excited to be able to go and do it again because it’s been a long break,” Davis said.

“I know it’s been the same for everyone but just to have the chance to play again, when we didn’t really know when we would get the chance to play next, it’s really good.

“Nobody really knew how long it was going to go on for,” added Davis, referring to COVID-19 lockdown.

“That was probably the hardest thing – just to keep yourself motivated, keep going practice-wise and stuff.

“You had to get the net in the garden and try to keep in the swing of it as much as you could – and just wait to find out when we could get back to it.

“It will be really good to have a chance to compete once a week. It will make us more ready to go, hopefully when we do finally get started,” talking about the LET’s return.

The visit to Brokenhurst will also mark a trip down memory lane for the former Dorset Ladies Champion, who turned pro in 2015.

The Baylor University graduate said: “I went to college there for two years a while ago now. So I got to play there a lot. It’s really nice that the first one is close to home.

“I haven’t played there for about nine years I think, so it will be good to go back there.”

Davis and Young share amateur glories

Liz Young who has organised the Brokenhurst Manor Women’s Open.
Picture by TRISTAN JONES

HAYLEY Davis shares something in common with Liz Young – they have both won the English Ladies Amateur Strokeplay title.

Davis picked up the trophy at Tandridge in Surrey, in 2014 – eight years after Young – as Liz Bennett – claimed victory at Birmingham’s Little Aston.

Charley Hull is another former English Strokeplay winner in the field, having won at Alwoodley, in Leeds, in 2011.

Davis also won the English Girls title in 2011 at Ellesborough, before becoming just the sixth player ever to also win the English Women’s Amateur title, following the likes of Claire Waite, Diane Oxley adn Rebecca Hudson.

Rose is another with links to the classic Harry Colt course in the New Forest.

A then teenage member at North Hants GC won the Mike Smith Memorial Trophy in 1996.

In the process, he set the course record at Brokenhurst Manor – the year he helped Hampshire win the English County Championship for the first time.

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Pasqualle Coffa and Lars Keunan who are taking part in the ground-breaking tournament at Saint-Malo Golf Resort with playes from the LET Access and Alps Tours taking part in France.
Picture by TRISTAN JONES

TWO couples and a pair of sisters are competing against each other as part of the same field in this week’s Saint-Malo Golf Mixed Open – with female and male players compete for the same trophy and prize fund.

The 72-hole tournament at Saint-Malo Golf Resort in Brittany, France, starts today (Thursday) and is the first professional tournament to draw together male and female golfers from two Tours in a single field.

Pasqualle Coffa, from the Netherlands, will take on her fellow rising stars from the Ladies European Tour Access Series, as well as golfers from the Alps Tour – where her boyfriend Lars Keunan is a regular.

Meanwhile, France’s fellow Alps Tour member Thomas Leberre will be playing against his girlfriend, Audre Fausnaugh, from the United States.

For Coffa and Keunan, who both come from Eindhovensche Golf and will be chasing the same trophy, the tournament offers a unique chance to compete in the same event and claim the all-important bragging rights.

“It’s fun because we always play against each other in practise and we are always competitive,” said Coffa, a rookie on the LET in 2019.

“He caddied for me in the last round last week in Belgium and he told me that if I miss the cut here, I will have to caddie for him this weekend, so I’m going to beat him this week, because otherwise, I will be angry. He might hit it longer, but I think my wedges are better than his.”

Keunan, who shares Coffa’s spirit, said that they will be playing for pride, but is also keen for the event to be a success.

“At first we were going to play for five or 10 euros, but then in the end, we thought that we would kill each other,” he said.

“I’m excited about this week but also curious to see how the organisers will make it a fair test for both the men and the women.”

While the competition will be fierce between the Dutch pair, there will also be an unofficial battle for “low-couple.”

Le Berre and Fausnaugh were on the same golf team at the University of Central Florida and both practise together at Chantilly Golf Club.

“It’s the first time we’re competing against each other in the same field, so it’s exciting and I hope Audre does well,” said Le Beurre.

Fausnaugh, who moved from Orlando to France two-and-a-half years ago, added: “We don’t usually compete for anything but I think it’s good practise to play with boys because they are all so good, so I’ll be used to it this week.

Bolstering the field further are Swedish sisters, Emma and Sarah Nilsson, whose parents are caddying for them.

Swedish sisters Emma and Sarah Nilsson are playing this week. Picture by TRISTAN JONES

Four-time LET Access Series winner Emma Nilsson, who won the 2018 Order of Merit, said: “It’s fun to try this new format and I hope to do well.

“At the end of the day, we are all golfers and we do the same job, so I think it will help to promote a family-friendly image for our sport and it’s interesting for people to watch, as well. It’s great to be in Saint-Malo and the course is beautiful.”

The field brings together recent LET Access Series tournament winners Greta Isabella Voelker (Neuchatel Ladies Championship) and Emma Grechi (Belfius Ladies Open), with recent Alps Tour winners Eduardo Lipparelli (Open de Saint Francois Region Guadaloupe), Benjamin Wheeler (Red Sea Little Venice Open), Timon Balti (Gosser Open), Luca Cianchetti (Katameya Dunes Open) and Frederique Lacroix (Ein Bay Open and Alps de Las Castillas).

The latter is a multiple winner looking for his third victory this season in order to advance directly to the Challenge Tour, following in the footsteps of the likes of current European Tour player Matt Wallace, who earned the automatic promotion.

The competition tees off on Thursday morning and after two rounds, there will be a cut to the leading 45 players and ties.

The champion will take home the trophy, a cheque for €7,200 on Sunday, and – perhaps most importantly – a place in golfing history, as the winner of the first professional tournament to draw together male and female golfers from two Tours in a single field.

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