The tournaments will all provide an excellent show case for home grown talent and the Ladies English Open as the next event on the schedule is already attracting a strong line up.
Kent’s very own Karen Stupples, the 2004 Weetabix Women’s British Open Champion, aims to win again on home soil and will no doubt be making her presence felt atop the leader board. The two-time winner bases herself in Orlando, Florida for most of the year, but plans to make an appearance in the UK this October will give the galleries something to cheer about.
Trish Johnson, who has won 17 titles in a career spanning 19 years, will be another player who will be determined to fight for her national title. Fiercely competitive, Johnson is a veteran of seven Solheim Cups, (the women’s equivalent of the men’s Ryder Cup) and is aiming for her first victory since the 2004 Wales Ladies Championship. The 2005 Wales Ladies Champion, Kirsty Taylor, is another strong contender. Taylor finally scooped her first victory last year in spectacular fashion at the Wales Ladies Championship and set an all-time Tour record of 11-under-par 61 in the first round, beating tournament
favourites Johnson and Laura Davies.
Georgina Simpson, a player yet to clinch her first win as a professional, is another talented golfer to watch out for at Chart Hills, along with up-and-coming players Kirsty S Taylor, Liza Walters, Fame More, Sarah Heath and Danielle Masters.
Danielle Masters represents Chart Hills Golf Club and with her considerable knowledge of the course will have a distinct advantage over the rest of the field. She is in her first year on the Ladies European Tour and missed the cut when she played the event on a sponsors invitation in 2004, but with her added experience will be hoping to improve on that this time.
Lancashire’s Lora Fairclough, who has played on tour for 15 years, mastered Chart Hills when she won the Ford Golf Classic at the venue in 1995. The six-time tournament winner also set a course record 64 at Chart Hills in the final round of the 2004 Ladies English Open, only to be equalled by eventualwinner Maria Hjorth, so she could easily repeat the feat this October.
Diane Barnard, a two-time tournament winner from Blackpool, rounds out the group of English players in the field. It’s a strong line up and each English player will be doing their best to take the national trophy, but they will have a tough task to beat the reigning champion Maria Hjorth from Sweden.
Maria Hjorth has won the event for the past two years, and with her fine form this year there is no reason why she couldn’t become the first player to win a Ladies European Tour event three times in succession: an English treble really would be cause for celebration.
