Carlota Ciganda and Fatima Fernandez have grabbed all the attention at the halfway point of the Andalucia Costa del Sol Open de España Femenino, riding on perfection to monopolize the top two positions in the standings.
Eight and seven under par as a result of two excellent performances, Navarre and Galicia assume on their own merits the condition of first classified with the French Anne-Lise Caudal as third in discord, in her case with five under par.
The Navarre golfer, simply impressive on the second day of competition, recalled in 18 holes to remember those glorious performances that have brought her such excellent results in a career that distinguishes her as an irreplaceable reference of Spanish women’s golf.
He did not miss a single hole and added four birdies and an eagle to forge a performance that allows him to cherish his long-heralded wish: “Winning this tournament would fulfill my best dreams”.
Courageous, aggressive, competitive, successful, confident… Carlota Ciganda accumulated praising adjectives as the holes went by, repeating for the umpteenth time those surprising performances that have led her to win all possible national titles since she won the Spanish Junior Championship in 2000.
Before the real hatching of its leadership, the day began as a Spanish party that ended in authentic red and green festival, the happy consequence of a choral performance of the best representatives of our golf, overturned with unusual strength in the desire to do their best by offering the best show.
The fun was concentrated at mid-morning in a stellar match starring on all four sides by excellent Spanish representatives. Carlota Ciganda, Nuria Iturioz and Ana Pelaez, united by destiny, were in charge of clearing the beautiful course of Los Naranjos with actions each one more intense.
Excellent tee shots, sensational approach shots, tremendous bunker shots, spectacular putts…, the competition became a spectacular duel where each of its members put all their efforts to do better and better.
Spurred on by each other by actions increasingly difficult to replicate, it was Carlota Ciganda who benefited the most from the demand of her teammates to achieve perfection. The Navarre, a cyclone, fourth classified early in the morning, accessed the lead in a heartbeat after presenting those credentials that have so often led him to the top, this time materialized by four birdies without fail at the end of the 10th hole.
The finishing touch, however, came on the 14th hole, a long par 5 that Carlota Ciganda reached the green by two strokes before holing a putt of appreciable distance and scoring a vital eagle to turn her round into a spectacular round.
That successful action allowed her to open a significant gap with respect to her most qualified pursuers. In fact, the large and select foreign legion with more than enough capacity to win the tournament succumbed to that repetitive ability to hit Carlota Ciganda, oblivious to error in a round where the important thing was to lay the foundations to climb to future heights more grandiloquent.
It was another clear-sighted Spaniard, Fatima Fernandez, also in top form, who emerged as a real rival to challenge the Navarre golfer for the lead.
The Galician, co-leader after the first round, extended the quality of her game to the second 18 holes, offering that growing mastery that distinguishes her as one of the most promising players in our country. It is true that she stained her round with a bogey on the 5th hole, an anecdotal record in the framework of a very solid performance that reaffirms her as a serious candidate for the final victory.
The fashionable pair of Carlota Ciganda and Fátima Fernández were joined by the aforementioned Ana Peláez and Nuria Iturrioz, fifth and eighth classified. “They remind me of myself when I was their age because they face golf with courage. I have told them not to be afraid, to go for it all,” praised Carlota Ciganda as she internalized her status as leader at the halfway point of the tournament. Word of a champion.
CLASSIFICATION (after the second day)
1.- Carlota Ciganda (ESP), 136 (70+66)
2.- Fátima Fernández (ESP), 137 (69+68)
3.- Anne-Lise Caudal (Fra), 139 (69+70)
5.- Ana Peláez (ESP), 141 (71+70)
8.- Nuria Iturrioz (ESP), 142 (71+71)
AROUND THE GREEN
We miss you, Azahara
One of the notable absences in this Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España Femenino has the name of a Spanish golf icon. It is the Malaga-born Azahara Muñoz, who grew up a few kilometers away from the Los Naranjos course. Happily pregnant, a few months away from giving birth, the absence of Azahara Muñoz generates affectionate comments towards who has also magnified the palmares of this tournament with her triumphs in the 2016 and 2017 editions, the first of them to become the first Spaniard to win a Women’s Spanish Open. That said, we miss you, Azahara, and congratulations on your future motherhood.
The legion of Navarre, well present at Los Naranjos Golf Club
The presence of Carlota Ciganda in any tournament played in our country brings with it the company of a veritable legion of Navarrese fans led by her parents, Jesus and Maria Jesus, who pull numerous family and friends to make up a colorful and enthusiastic group of fans one hundred percent Carlota Ciganda. The encouragement they dispensed along the route is also stretched to the post-match time of the Navarre, in an entertaining meeting that is an example of support. They all enjoyed a day that ended with the Navarrese at the top of the ranking.
The tireless Carmen Alonso and her intense relationship with the Open de España
Of all the participants in the competition, one of them stands out above all, and her name is Carmen Alonso. The golfer from Valladolid is the only one who has played 18 of the 19 editions held to date, two of them as an amateur, an impressive streak that was only frustrated in 2020, when an untimely injury prevented her from playing at the RCG Guadalmina. In second place is Laura Cabanillas from Malaga, absent on this occasion, who has played 15 of the 19 tournaments played to date.
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