Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom came from four strokes behind the overnight leader Céline Boutier of France to claim a two stroke victory in the Ladies European Tour’s Final Stage Lalla Aicha Tour School for 2017 in Morocco.
Sagstrom carded a four-under-par 68 in beautiful conditions at Samanah Golf Club on Wednesday for a five day, 90-hole score of 343, 17-under-par, to win by two shots over Valdis Thora Jonsdottir of Iceland.
Boutier, who had either led outright or held a share of the lead for the first four rounds, ended with a 75 to tie for third place on 14-under-par with Karolin Lampert of Germany, Agathe Sauzon of France and Australian teenager Celina Yuan.
Exactly 30 players qualified for Category 8 Membership of the LET, with the mark falling at two-under-par. Players who finished in positions 31-66 are entitled to LET Membership in Category 9b.
There are 14 different countries represented amongst the players that finished in the top 30 places, and 24 nationalities among the top 66.
Sagstrom, who also won the Pre-Qualifier B at Royal Golf Anfa Mohammedia, last week, said: “I’ve had a great time in Morocco and it’s lovely to be out here. The golf courses are in great shape: both Amelkis and Samanah were really good. I stuck to my game plan and really enjoyed myself, because it was my last round of 2016. I just had a big smile on my face all day.”
Jonsdottir, who has played for three years on the LET Access Series, also carded a final round of 68. She said: “It could have been a little bit better, but I’m very satisfied with a 68 in the fifth round and I’ve been playing a lot. I had to play in the first stage as well last week. I will be a rookie in 2016. I could have had conditional status before, but I decided I was too far down the list, so I took the decision to play on the LET Access Series for three years and I finally did it!”
Of the players who finished in joint third place, Celina Yuan, who has just finished high school and will turn 18 on January 6, said: “I wasn’t expecting to get anywhere near the top 10. I wasn’t happy with how I played on the last day, but a top 10 is good enough for me. I hope to make all the cuts in 2017 and play well enough to be happy!”
Madelene Stavnar, 16, finished ninth and made history as the youngest Norwegian to qualify for the LET, while Alexandra Bonetti from France finished 10th.
There were three English players inside the top 30, with Royal Mid Surrey’s Inci Mehmet finishing joint 12th alongside Lauren Horsford from Wimbledon Park to win their full cards for next year, while Lauren Taylor won back her card after losing it at the end of the season. Yorkshire’s Kiran Mitharu finished an agonising 31st, following a final round 74.
Should all of the top 66 take Membership in 2017, then there will be 36 rookies on the LET next year: Madelene Sagstrom, Valdis Thora Jonsdottir, Celina Yuan, Céline Boutier, Amandeep Drall, Madelene Stavnar, Alexandra Bonetti, Cajsa Persson, Inci Mehmet, Lauren Horsford, Camille Chevalier, Andrea Wong, Vani Kapoor, Frida Gustafsson Spang, Puk Lyng Thomsen, Luna Sobron, Yan Liu, Lucrezia Colombotto Rosso, Eva Gilly, Bethan Popel, Silvia Banon, Angela Thenn, Meghan MacLaren, Lucy Goddard, Celine Borge, Saaniya Sharma, Chloe Williams, Elizabeth Mallett, Francesca Cuturi, Sideri Vanova, Hana Wakimoto, Jenny Lee, Lejan Lewthwaite, Sarah Nilsson, Josefin Odering and Emma Grechi.