The Czech dream was followed by the participants and spectators of the Dutch Ladies Open 2024 on 19-21 July in the Netherlands. Jana Melichová won her second career victory at the LET and is enjoying her first triumph as a professional. Sára Kousková underlined the fantastic Czech success in the Netherlands, with her tied for seventh place.
Czech professional and amateur LET winner from Beroun in 2022, Jana Melichová’ s journey to her second LET title gained momentum from the first round on the Hilversumsche Golf Club course. She played the first 18 solidly and without any major mistakes and with four bogeys, six birdies and a score of -2, she settled into a safe 20th place before the second round.
In Saturday’s second round, Melich had a shaky start to the day with a double bogey on the fourth hole but soon made up for it with six birdies to move up the leaderboard. Jana Melichova went into the final round from an excellent tie for 4th place with a score of six shots under par; just one shot back in second place.
“It was good,” said Jana Melichova after Saturday’s round, “I didn’t have much confidence off the tee at the start, so that’s why the double bogey came, but then I came back. The putter was on fire today, which was absolutely great, and that helped me get my confidence back. It was good golf today.” However, after two rounds at the top of the leaderboard, Melichová was looking at a seemingly insurmountable six-shot gap to the sovereign Swiss Kim Metraux until then.
Little did the Czech golfer know that her fantastic golf would mark the final Sunday. Her performance challenged the Swiss leader to a direct and dramatic battle for the title. Melichová played one bogey on the 6th hole that day. Otherwise, she managed to score six birdies. So after a stunning turnaround, she went into the clubhouse after her last hole in first place with a one-shot lead over the Swiss. However, the latter could not pick up the gauntlet. Instead of a birdie, which guaranteed her at least a shootout, she played a par, thus definitively underlining the fantastic success of Jana Melichova.
“It’s unbelievable; I didn’t believe I would finish like this a second time. I’m so happy. Going into this week, I wasn’t completely confident in my game. But here I completely let it go and just played my golf. Friday would have been my mum’s 60th birthday, so I was thinking about her all week, and it gave me a lot of energy to win. It was her gift, and I dedicated this win to her. Ever since she left, I’ve been vowing to win the tournament for her. So, I fulfilled it. I’m very happy about it, and I hope she is too,” Jana Melichova finished emotionally.
In addition to Melichová’s victory, the Czech colors are also celebrating the excellent performance of Sara Kousková, which would otherwise fill the Czech golf media on its own.
Sára Kousková entered the final day from a great position in a tie for 14th place. Her confidence was boosted by the fact that she played both rounds with no worse than bogeys and even those; she collected only four in 36 holes. However, she added seven birdies for Friday and Saturday. So she improved her score by another 3 shots to -3 before Sunday.
In a great style and very encouraging before the Olympic tournament, Kousková played the final round. After that, she brought a clean scorecard, which included three birdies, to the clubhouse. After rounds of 72, 69 and 69 with a score of -6, she finished in a tie for 7th place. For Kouskova, this is proof of great form ahead of Paris.
After the tournament, Sára Kousková was beaming with excitement about the overall success of the Czech Republic in the Netherlands. Of course, today is about Jana and her performance, which was absolutely fantastic, and it was equally great to experience it with her. Speaking for myself, I’m happy too. I think it was an excellent result, which I think is one of the top three finishes at the LET for me. It’s a confirmation of my form before the Olympics; we took this tournament as the last preparation. I’m glad things are falling into place nicely, and the game has been steady. It was nice to fulfill my goal of qualifying for the Olympics, and the way everything is coming together now, I can say that I am fine-tuning my form exactly towards Paris. I’m really looking forward to it; we leave this Thursday, so we’ll be at the opening ceremony as well. Then, we’ll get ready for the main tournament and get to know the course. I’m really looking forward to Paris.”
Unfortunately, neither Tereza Melecka (101st place) nor Kristyna Napoleaova ( 116th place) managed to make the cut on Saturday. Klara Davidson Spilkova withdrew during the 2nd round for unspecified health reasons.
Results of the Dutch Ladies Open 2024 Ladies European Tour series can be found here.
Author: Tomas Prikryl (www.cgf.cz)