Czech players occupied the top spots at the Jabra Ladies Open (LET), held at the Evian Resort Golf Club from Thursday to Saturday. For two days, Jana Melichova held third place, but on Saturday, she was replaced in the TOP5 by Klára Davidson Spilková, who, after a great performance, finished tied fifth.
The Evian Resort Golf Club will host one of the European Majors in July, and many players treated the tournament as a dress rehearsal for this highlight of the LET season. From the beginning, the Czech colors looked good. After the 1st round, Jana Melichova claimed the spotlight with five birdies, a -4 score, and a tied 3rd place. Klára Davidson Spilková and Sára Kousková finished tied for 45th place on Thursday with a score of +2. Kristýna Napoleaová played only the first round at the Jabra Ladies Open with a score of +6 and did not finish the other stages of the tournament.
In the 2nd round, the stormy weather gave the players and the organizers some trouble. After an hour-long stoppage of play shortly before 3 pm, the organizers ended play for good at 6:08 pm, and the round was played on Saturday morning. However, thanks to their early morning starts, two Czech women were able to play Round 2. Jana Melichova didn’t keep her score under par, but Friday’s +1 was enough to maintain an excellent starting position in tied 3rd place before Saturday’s final. Even Klara Davidson Spilkova played the entire 2nd round before Friday’s break. She played the Evian course with two birdies and finished the entire 18th one shot under par, improving her position on the leaderboard to 17th.
The third Czech flag above the cut line was secured by Sara Kouskova, who repeated her Round 1 result of 2 shots over par to enter Saturday’s final round in 41st place.
Klára Davidson Spilková was the first Czech player to open Saturday’s final round, and her opening nine was a dream come true. The Czech pro later confirmed that she capitalized on her experience with the Evian 18: “I’ve played the course a few times, I know it quite well, and I’m glad for that. It’s very technical, and you have to place it in good positions to have a chance to make birdie or par. I made two bogeys on the first nine, but then I made two birdies right after that, and suddenly, I got some ease and flow in my game. I made an eagle on the ninth hole after making a 100m birdie from the rough, which dropped the hole. That doesn’t happen often, so I’m very grateful. The result definitely boosts me ahead of the major to be played here. Now I have a tournament in Sweden; I’ll play in the Dormy Open Helsingborg, I’ll take a break during the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed, then I’ll play in Italy, and then Beroun will be here (Tipsport Czech Ladies Open). Now I’m flying home, and I’m looking forward to rest,” concluded the fifth player of the Jabra Ladies Open, Klara Davidson Spilkova.
Unfortunately, Jana Melichová did not build on her fantastic start on Thursday. She played five and two double bogeys in the 3rd round and was 20 places down with a score of +6, finishing in 23rd place, for which she cashed 3,970 euros. “Stress and nerves ruined my first few holes, then I lost two balls, and all my confidence was gone. I got back into the swing with the very last putt. I didn’t mess up my shots during today’s tee shot; everything was perfect, but unfortunately, it was only before the game,” Jana Melichová complained at the end.
For the third Czech finalist in the starting field, Sara Kouskova, Saturday’s round was one shot better. She improved her results from Thursday and Friday by one more shot after even rounds of 73, 73, 72 (+5). She finished 32nd with a cheque for 2.687 euros.
The results of the Jabra Ladies Open series of the Ladies European Tour 2024 can be found here.
Author Tomas Prikryl (www.cgf.cz)