At the Hill’s Open in Sweden, of the five Czech golfers competing, Sára Kousková performed the best. After a series of four tournaments without making the cut, Kousková recorded a fifth top-10 finish of the season with a tie for 8th place. Kristýna Napoleaová (23rd) and Klára Davidson Spilková (47th) also advanced to the final round.
Czech golf had strong representation on Friday and Saturday, with five players starting the tournament. In the first round, the entire field had to contend with very windy conditions at Hills Golf & Sports Club. Calmer winds and better weather arrived on Saturday, when the cuts for the Sunday final were decided.
Compared to the previous four LET events, Sára Kousková performed well. She held the best starting position among the Czech group after round one, tied for 35th, and improved further in the second round. Thanks to steady play on the back nine, where she recovered from a rough start, she moved up to a tie for 16th heading into the final. The Czech number one also broke a frustrating streak of four consecutive tournaments where she had missed the cut, including two majors.
Kristýna Napoleaová also made it to the Sunday final, albeit with a larger deficit. After two rounds, she was five over par and ten strokes behind the leaders, placing her in the fourth decade of the leaderboard, tied for 32nd. Klára Davidson Spilková barely made the cut at +7. Her performance between the first (75) and second rounds (74) improved by only one stroke, but the experienced player managed to advance precisely by one shot.
Lucie Váchová and Tereza Melecká, on the other hand, did not make the cut. Váchová played significantly better in round two, but the gap was too large, and she finished outside the cut at +11. Melecká had a rough Saturday, with several mistakes that dropped her into the second hundred in the standings.
All three Czech players who made the cut posted their best rounds on Sunday, with Sára Kousková standing out. She played a strong front nine, with a sequence of three birdies, a bogey, and another birdie, reaching -1 and climbing to 7th place. On the back nine, she started with a double bogey and a bogey but recovered with three birdies and a bogey over the final seven holes, finishing the day at -2 and even par overall. This result placed her in an excellent 8th position, returning to her high scoring standard for the season on the LET. Kousková earned €7,700 and 82 points for the Order of Merit, maintaining her second position behind Mimi Rhodes.
“I think the final result was a very nice placement, which we gradually worked our way to on the leaderboard from the first round to the last. My game improved every day, and paradoxically, the scores reflected that beautifully,” Kousková said after the tournament. She praised the course: “The course was absolutely amazing – beautiful, very hilly, so you always had to account for elevations and slopes. The greens were extremely fast, around 12 feet every day, and combined with strong winds, it was a real challenge. I think the scores around par confirm that.”
Kristýna Napoleaová was also satisfied with her result. After a wild final round, with an eagle but also two double bogeys, one bogey, and three birdies, she finished the course at even par for the round. With a total score of +5, she tied for 23rd and earned a check for €3,529. “I’m very happy with the result. At the start of the week, I wouldn’t have even dreamed of this. It’s nice, three consecutive cuts – that hasn’t happened here for a long time. I want to keep this momentum, as I’m fighting for my card for next year,” Napoleaová said.
Klára Davidson Spilková began the final round on the back nine and had a promising start with three birdies and one bogey. However, the end did not go well, as she added four strokes over par on the last five holes, finishing at +8 and tied for 47th.
The tour now moves from Europe to the United States for the generously funded Aramco Houston Championship (September 5–7).
Results of the Hill’s Open, Ladies European Tour, can be found here.
Author: Tomáš Přikryl (www.cgf.cz)
Photo: Tristan Jones / LET