The Ladies European Tour, the top women’s circuit in Europe, has announced the calendar for this season, which will feature 30 stops on four different continents. Czech fans can look forward to regular representation of their country by at least five players, two of whom are also vying for participation in next year’s Summer Olympics.
The 2023 season will be another record year for women’s golf not only in the Czech Republic but also in Europe. The Ladies European Tour has thirty tournaments scheduled this year with a total prize money in excess of € 35 million.
The first stop from a total of 21 destinations will be Kenya, where the European elite will start their season in early February with the Magical Kenya Ladies Open. After closing of applications for inclusion in the start list, there are also four Czech flags to be seen.
Jana Melichová, who secured her membership and category on the Ladies European Tour with a fantastic win at the Tipsport Czech Ladies Open last year, will start the season in Africa. She will be joined by Sára Kousková, the overall winner of last year’s LETAS Order of Merit in the main circuit development tour.
Tereza Melecká, who will be a regular on the Ladies European Tour thanks to her great results in the Q-School in December will also be competing, as will Kristýna Napoleaová thanks to her Top 80 finish in the previous season.
The start of the season will then continue in Morocco, where our top pro golfer Klára Davidson Spilková will be joining the Czech team. It was at the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco in 2017 that she celebrated her first victory among professional women golfers.
Tournaments in Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Singapore and Thailand will follow before a brief return to Europe in May. One week in Florida will precede the European tournaments, which will remain on our continent until the end of September.
Another annual stop is the Tipsport Czech Ladies Open, which will be taking place at the Royal Beroun Golf Club from 23 to 25 June. The performances of the leading Czech professionals and amateurs will be embellished with an increased amount of prize money, which this year has reached the level of € 300,000 which is the equivalent of more than CZK 7,000,000.
The next three tournaments will see players prepare for the first European major, The Amundi Evian Championship in France, followed by the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open before the next major, the AIG Women’s Open.
Four tournaments are on the agenda in Northern Ireland, Ireland, the Netherlands and Switzerland at the end of August and beginning of September, followed by the pinnacle of women’s professional golf, the Solheim Cup, which will see the best players from Europe and the USA clash at the Finca Cortesin course in Spain.
A tournament will then take place in France before the final move between continents, this specifically meaning relocation to India and Saudi Arabia. The final event of the season will, as is now the tradition, take place in the south of Spain, where the Andalucia Costa Del Sol Open de Espana will decide the winner of the annual Race to Costa del Sol rankings.
This means that the players in the Ladies European Tour, including the five Czech representatives, will have another long season ahead of them, during which eyes will mainly be focused on Klára Davidson Spilková and Sára Kousková, two of the best Czech pro golfers and hopefuls for participation in next year’s Olympic Games in Paris.
Klára Davidson Spilková currently holds 42nd place in the Olympic Women’s Golf Competition Rankings, whereas Sára Kousková is in 52nd place. The top 60 players in the women’s golf rankings will play in the Olympic Games at Le Golf National.
Apart from the five domestic players already mentioned, other Czech names will also be making an appearance in the Ladies European Tour or the LET Access Series. Tereza Koželuhová, Šideri Váňová and Kateřina Vlašínová also have player category and therefore a chance to compete in tournaments on both circuits.
The LET Access Series tournament season has a total of 17 events in seven European countries, including a Czech stop at the Amundi Czech Ladies Challenge, which will this year be taking place for the first time at Panorama Golf Resort Kácov from 16 to 18 June.