German wins Ladies Open Pro-Am at Vipingo
What you need to know:
- Speaking to the press after her round, Abe said she was pleased with her game.
- “The golf course is in great shape and I am happy with the way I am playing,” she said.
Ladies European Tour (LET) rookie player Esther Henseleit from Germany announced her intention of ending her 2019 season in style when she returned an individual two-under par 70 score at the Magical Kenya Ladies Open Pro-Am at the Vipingo Ridge's Baobab course on Wednesday.
Henseleit opened her round with eight straight pars and a lone birdie on the par-four ninth, for one-under par score of 35 on the opening nine.
On the back nine, Henseleit posted six pars, two birdies on the par-five 11th and par-five 16th as well as a lone bogey on the tough par-three 12th for a score of one-under par 35 on the back nine and a total of two-under par 70 for the round.
Henseleit, who is playing her first full LET season, has performed well, finishing second at the Ladies European Thailand Championship in June 2019 and second again at the Estrella Dam Mediterranean Ladies Open in September 2019. She is currently second on the LET Order of Merit behind Marianne Skarpnord from Norway.
Skarpnord opened her Pro-am round with seven straight pars, before sinking two birdies on the par-three eighth and at the par-four ninth for a two-under par opening nine of 34.
On the back nine, she got off to a shaky start, posting double bogey on the downhill par-four 10th. She quickly found her rhythm and scored five pars, birdie on the par-four 16th and two pars to close the back nine on one-over gross and a total round score of one-under par.
Swede Linda Wessberg, Stacy Lee Bregmann of South Africa and Lynn Carlsson finished on level par, whilst Astrid Vayson de Pradenne of France, Amy Boulden (Wales), Florenyna Parker (England), Lakareber Abe (USA), Isabelle Boineau (France) and Cheyenne Woods all finished at one-over par 73.
Abe had a mixed round during the Pro-Am, scoring one bogey and two birdies on the opening nine and three bogeys and one birdie on the back nine for a total score of one-over par 73.
Speaking to the press after her round, Abe said she was pleased with her game.
“The golf course is in great shape and I am happy with the way I am playing,” she said.
“I think the key this week will be keeping the ball in play, avoiding trouble off the tee box and managing the game around the greens.”
In the Pro-Am team competition, Pro Diksha Dagar from India, playing with Ken Mwige, Charles Gichobi, and Vedick Wafula returned a score of minus-26 to emerge the overall team winners.
The team of Esther Henseleit, playing with Sheena Round-Turner, Pauline Gichihi and Anis Popat finished second with minus-23, beating the team of Cheyenne Woods, Martha Vincent, Jean Ngengi and Lawrence Kimathi on countback.
Speaking after her round, Woods said she ready for the tournament, “I have playing professional golf for seven years now, having started my career on the Ladies European Tour. I have now played on the LPGA for five years. This golf course is very beautiful and the weather is great, however it is important to stay hydrated,” she said.
“I am also impressed by the young Kenyan girls and I would advice them to write down their goals and plot a path of how to achieve them, they must be structured to succeed.”
