Amy Boulden will return to the Ladies European Tour in 2020 after winning Qualifying School at La Manga Club in Spain by three strokes from Magdalena Simmermacher and Alison Muirhead.
Welsh golfer Boulden – the 2014 LET Rookie of the Year – closed the final stage with a round of five-under-par 68 on the South Course for a 90-hole total of 351, 10-under-par.
The 26-year-old from Llandudno, whose career best finish in six years on tour was second in the 2014 Lacoste Ladies Open de France, had set a personal target of 12-under-par for the marathon examination, but was happy with her score, especially after a week of changeable and challenging weather conditions.
She said: “I’m relieved. It’s always a tough week coming back to Q-School. I decided to play a bit on the Symetra Tour last year and didn’t manage to keep my LET card from the six events in which I played, so I was always planning to come back.
“I love playing in Europe, but you feel a bit of extra pressure once you’ve had your card and then lose it. It’s a big relief to have it.
“I’ve done quite a lot of swing work over the last year or so and I didn’t actually feel like I had my game today.
💥 Finishing in style 💥 @amy_boulden birdies the 18th hole & wins Final Stage Qualifying on -10. Congratulations Amy 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻#LETTourSchool @LaMangaClub pic.twitter.com/aaxj1PJehD
— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) January 26, 2020
“I know I shot a good score but my iron-play wasn’t quite there. I putted well and I feel like all areas of my game are getting better and it’s just about confidence now. Hopefully I can kick on from here.”
Simmermacher, 23, from Buenos Aires, will become the second Argentinian member of the LET after sealing second spot, based on the best last 18 holes, with her final round of 68.
The 15 players who qualified in Category 8a are Maiken Bing Paulsen from Norway, Sarina Schmit from Germany, Casandra Danielle Hall from South Africa, Nobuhle Dlamini from Swaziland, Anne-Charlotte Mora from France, Pia Babnik from Slovenia, Filippa Moork from Sweden, Carolin Kauffmann from Germany, Morgane Metraux from Switzerland, Sophie Hausmann from Germany, EunJung Ji from Korea, Gudrun Bjorgvinsdottir from Iceland, Tiia Koivisto from Finland, Charlotte Thomas from England and Monique Smit from South Africa.
Smit secured the 20th card with a birdie four on the second extra hole after a four-way play-off on the 18th against Manon Gidali from France, Leonie Harm from Germany and Mireia Prat from Spain.
The 2020 season gets under way on February 20 with the Australian Ladies Classic Bonville in New South Wales.