Skarpnord wins the Battle at Bonville

 

Coffs Harbour, New South Wales – February 24, 2019: Marianne Skarpnord (pictured) ended a six-year drought to claim her fourth title on the Ladies European Tour after a closely-fought battle for the Pacific Bay Resort Australian Ladies Classic – Bonville.

Skarpnord fired a final round of 69 to earn a two-stroke victory on eight-under-par 280 ahead of Australian Hannah Green and Nuria Iturrios of Spain after four rounds at Bonville Golf Resort.

“I’m delighted. I’m very, very happy because the last couple of years I’ve been struggling a bit and I haven’t been playing as well as I know I can,” said the 33-year-old from Norway, who finished second in the Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open last month and has now moved to the top of the LET order of merit.
“I’ve had a great start to this year and it’s nice to see the hard work that I put in finally giving some good results.”

Skarpnord started the final round a stroke behind the overnight leader, Madelene Sagstrom and bogeyed the first hole, but she quickly gained a five-way share of the lead with Sagstrom, Hannah Green, Daniela Holmqvist and Nuria Iturrios after the Swede double bogeyed the short third hole.

She gained the outright lead after making a severely breaking putt for birdie on the sixth hole and then made a two-putt birdie on the long seventh to keep her advantage.

New South Wales amateur Doey Choi briefly gained the solo lead after consecutive birdies on the 10^th and 11^th holes,  but then Skarpnord responded with birdies on 10 and 11 to regain the outright lead on eight-under.

Although Skarnord bogeyed 13, Choi then double bogeyed 14. Swede Jenny Haglund, who was one behind, hit her tee shot into the water on 17 and Choi followed suit, dropping into a tie for fourth with Holmqvist.

One ahead with three to play, Skarpnord dropped a shot on 16 to fall into a tie with Iturrios, but she then holed a gutsy birdie putt on 17 followed by another birdie on 18 after hitting a huge 300 metre drive into the wind which split the fairway.

Skarpnord, who shares a winter home at 13^th Beach Golf Links in Victoria with her fiancé Richard Green and whom speaks English with an Australian accent, says that she has chilled out in recent years.

“Ten years ago, all I wanted to do was play golf. There comes a time when you think, do I really want to do this? Do I want to put myself through all this misery and pain? Somehow I pulled through that, because a lot of times I’ve been thinking that I’ve had enough and I’m going to get a proper job and be at home.

"There’s something in me and I just can’t do it. I can’t give up. This is what I love doing, even though it’s hard when it goes bad. The good times are so good, so I think that’s what you strive for every time you come to a tournament.”

West Australian Green, who carded a 71 to share second, had contrasting emotions. She said: “It was very disappointing and I’m very frustrated with how I played today, but I can’t complain with the result and I’m just very happy I birdied the last hole.”

Iturrios, who also shot 71, was delighted with her best finish since winning the 2016 Lalla Meryem Cup and said: “I’m so excited and happy. I had the best caddie I could have, who is a friend, and she helped me a lot and was a great support. I just stayed in the present. It was great to see how many people were out. I’m very happy with the work that I’ve been doing so I’ll continue to work on that.”

Skarpnord is now looking forward to a road trip through Sydney on her way to next week’s event, the Canberra Classic at Royal Canberra Golf Club.

Scots Kylie Henry (307) finished third last of the 70 qualifiers  and Carly Booth (314) last

FINAL TOTALS
par 288 (4x72) Winnings (Euro)
1 Marianne Skarpnord NOR 70 72 69 69 280 -8 32,923.50

2 Nuria Iturrios SPN 69 67 75 71 282 -6 16,461.75
2 Hannah Green AUS 69 72 70 71 282 -6 16,461.75

4 Daniela Holmqvist SWE 68 76 70 70 284 -4 9,877.05
4 Doey Choi AUS Am 66 74 72 72 284 -4 Amateur

6 Madelene Sagstrom SWE 68 74 68 75 285 -3 7,352.92
6 Jenny Haglund SWE 69 73 72 71 285 -3 7,352.92

8 Linnea Strom SWE 72 70 75 69 286 -2 6,145.72

9 Nicole Broch Larsen DEN 75 69 72 71 287 -1 5,267.76
9 Nanna Koerstz Madsen DEN 72 71 72 72 287 -1 5,267.76
9 Esther Henseleit GER 73 74 73 67 287 -1 5,267.76

12 Ursula Wikstrom FIN 72 76 68 72 288 Par 4,719.04
12 Kim Kaufman USA 72 73 71 72 288 Par 4,719.04
14 Becky Morgan WALES 71 74 72 72 289 +1 4,280.06
14 Krista Bakker FIN 71 75 73 70 289 +1 4,280.06
16 Celine Herbin FRA 71 75 67 77 290 +2 3,703.90
16 Xi Yu Lin CHN 72 76 70 72 290 +2 3,703.90
16 Anne Van Dam NETHERLANDS 71 75 73 71 290 +2 3,703.90
16 Meghan Maclaren ENG 73 73 74 70 290 +2 3,703.90

20 Linda Wessberg SWE 75 75 69 72 291 +3 3,182.61
20 Manon De Roey BELGIUM 73 72 75 71 291 +3 3,182.61
20 Sarah Schober AUSTRIA 72 77 71 71 291 +3 3,182.61
20 Munchin Keh NZ 72 75 70 74 291 +3 3,182.61
20 Leona Maguire IRELAND 73 75 68 75 291 +3 3,182.61

25 Charlotte Thomas NZ 74 71 72 75 292 +4 2,581.20
25 Karolin Lampert GER 72 79 70 71 292 +4 2,581.20
25 Lynn Carlsson SWE 73 75 73 71 292 +4 2,581.20
25 Stephanie Bunque AUS (Am) 73 72 74 73 292 +4 Amateur
25 Tahnia Ravnjak AUS 73 74 74 71 292 +4 2,581.20
25 Tsai Peiying TAIPEI 75 73 72 72 292 +4 2,581.20

31 Marta Sanz Barrio SPN 74 75 74 70 293 +5 2,172.95
31 Yan Liu CHN 73 77 72 71 293 +5 2,172.95
31 Justine Dreher FRA 74 73 72 74 293 +5 2,172.95

34 Whitney Hillier AUS 69 80 73 72 294 +6 1,975.41
34 Tonje Daffinrud NOR 71 74 71 78 294 +6 1,975.41 4
34 Ingrid Gutierrez Nunez MEX 72 73 74 75 294 +6 1,975.41

37 Sarah Kemp AUS 71 75 72 77 295 +7 1,643.04
37 Felicity Johnson ENG 72 74 73 76 295 +7 1,643.04
37 Caroline Hedwall SWE 76 71 75 73 295 +7 1,643.04
37 Stacy Lee Bregman SAf 73 73 75 74 295 +7 1,643.04
37 Camilla Lennarth SWE 72 79 72 72 295 +7 1,643.04
37 Amy Boulden WALES 73 72 75 75 295 +7 1,643.04
37 Lina Boqvist SWE 74 76 73 72 295 +7 1,643.04

44 Julia Engstrom SWE 72 76 76 72 296 +8 1,327.92
44 Diksha Dagar INDIA 71 77 76 72 296 +8 1,327.92

46 Amelia Lewis USA 76 75 72 74 297 +9 1,229.15
46 Karoline Lund NOR 75 76 75 71 297 +9 1,229.15

48 Silvia Banon SPN 71 72 75 80 298 +10 1,163.30

49 Breanna Gill AUS 75 75 75 74 299 +11 1,075.50
49 Sarah Nilsson SWE 71 77 77 74 299 +11 1,075.50
49 Kanyalak Preedasuttijit THAILAND 75 75 77 72 299 +11 1,075.50

52 Hannah Burke ENG 71 80 73 76 300 +12 899.91
52 Sock Hwee Koh SINGAPORE 71 77 76 76 300 +12 899.91
52 Noemi Jimenez Martin SPN 72 79 74 75 300 +12 899.91
52 Elia Folch SPN 75 72 81 72 300 +12 899.91
52 Miki Nishiyama JPN 76 74 75 75 300 +12 899.91

57 Amy Walsh AUS 74 73 83 72 302 +14 731.64
57 Robyn Doig CANADA 74 74 78 76 302 +14 731.64
57 Stephanie Kyriacou AUS Am 73 76 76 77 302 +14 Amateur
57 Emie Peronnin FRA 75 76 76 75 302 +14 731.64

61 Agathe Sauzon FRA 72 79 75 77 303 +15 658.47
61 Brooke Baker USA 71 74 82 76 303 +15 658.47
61 Tvesa Malik INDIA 75 74 76 78 303 +15 658.47

64 Mireia Prat SPN 76 74 78 76 304 +16 614.57

65 Isabelle Boineau FRA 76 75 79 75 305 +17 581.65
65 Camille Chevalier FRA 73 77 76 79 305 +17 581.65
65 Belinda Ji AUS Am 74 72 77 82 305 +17 Amateur

68 Kylie Henry SCO 71 74 86 76 307 +19 548.73
 
69 Laura Davies ENG 74 75 77 82 308 +20 526.78

70 Carly Booth SCO 79 71 85 79 314 +26 504.83