Hertfordshire’s Alice Hewson won the South African Women’s Open at Westlake Golf Club on her very first start as a member of the Ladies European Tour.
The 22-year-old from Hemel Hempstead, who is a member at Berkhamsted Golf Club, came three strokes behind the overnight leader, Olivia Cowan, to win by a shot.
“I couldn’t have hoped for a better start,”said Hewson, who only turned professional in September and finished fifth at LET Q-School in January. “It feels absolutely incredible and it really is a dream come true. Growing up as a kid, all I could ever dream of was playing on the Ladies European Tour and to come and win my first event, the feeling is indescribable.”
Hewson birdied the first hole in the final round and although she bogeyed the third, she quickly clawed another shot back on the fourth hole, moving to five-under-par. She entered a four-way share of the lead after nine holes and then took the sole advantage after the three players in the final group bogeyed the 10th.
With a bogey of her own on the 11th, she dropped back into a share of the lead but then broke away from the pack with a birdie on the long 13th and the rest of the field was unable to catch her.
It could have been a shaky finish for a lesser player, as she found trouble under the trees on 18 and her second shot hit some branches, causing the ball to drop back down into the rough, but she played a gutsy chip shot up to the green and then holed a seven foot putt for par to complete a round of 71, ending on five under par.
Hewson said: “The 18th was a bit of a highlight, because I was in a bit of trouble off the tee and was still in trouble after my third shot; I think another highlight would be the par-5 13th, because I made a solid birdie there. This golf course can play pretty tough and it’s going to give some shots back to you so I tried to keep my game super steady and make some birdies.”
When asked if she was concerned about whether the tournament should have been played, given the Coronavirus pandemic, she said: “I think it was definitely the right decision that we continued playing this week, as there is a very low risk here in South Africa, but it’s also the right decision that future tournaments have been cancelled. We don’t know how long it’s going to be now before we will again, so it was nice that we were able to play some golf this week.”