England’s Lianna Bailey held her nerves and battled through the heavy rain to win the first of back-to-back Links Series events at Ramside Hall by one shot from Ireland’s Lauren Walsh.
Playing in the final group, the 26-year-old from Leicester got off to a shaky start, carding two bogeys on the front nine. On the back nine, she made two birdies and another two bogeys, which proved just enough to clinch the win.
“It all feels surreal, I was very nervous coming down the stretch but I’m glad to get it done,” said Lianna. “Today we had more rain, it was coming down heavy. It made it more difficult as there was a lot of moisture on the greens. I had a lot of nerves during the last hole, I can’t really remember what was going through my head, it was a bit of a blur.”
The win is Lianna’s second as a professional and first on the LET Access. With the victory she moved to fourth in the LETAS order of merit.
“The win means a lot,” Lianna added. “I’ve had a bit of a struggle since turning professional and it’s great that the hard work is paying off. To celebrate, I’ll probably go to the pub – there’s one across the road from where I’m staying.”
The Ladies European Tour Access Series returns to Ramside next week for the second Links Series tournament, and Lianna now feels confident heading into it.
“I’m very much looking forward to next week now, I’ll be back at it again. However, next week is another week so we will see what happens.”
Lauren fired a fantastic final round of three under-par to finish in outright second place on five-under-par in her first LETAS tournament. Australia’s Stephanie Bunque, also at her first LETAS event, shot four under-par to finish in a tie for third place alongside Denmark’s Cecilie Finne-Ipsen. Norway’s Karoline Lund finished in fifth, with Australia’s Kelsey Bennett and New Zealand’s Hanne Song finishing tied sixth on two under-par.
