With a dream finish and two birdies on the last two holes, Céline Herbin has been awarded the victory in the La Reserva de Sotogrande Invitational hosted by ANNIKA, Ladies European Tour event that has been played in the golf course of La Reserva de Sotogrande Club de Sotogrande. La Reserva Club de Sotogrande. The Frenchwoman, who signed a 69 on the final day, had to pull caste and quality in the final stretch to take off the German Esther Henseleit, one of the rising stars of European golf, and get on the last green the stroke of advantage that allowed him to lift the trophy in the end. Behind, María Parra and Carmen Alonso finished a great tournament, tied for sixth place, five strokes behind the winner.
Although the wind blew with less intensity than in the previous two days, the careful Sotogrande course acted as both judge and party and favored the numerous alternatives that occurred throughout Sunday. From the outset, the Swedish Caroline Hedwall, who came out leading the last day and seemed one of the candidates with more options, was unhooked with three consecutive birdies to start, while Charlotte Thompson, leader after the first round, started briskly and subtracting four strokes to the card at the start of the round.
While Parra and Alonso struggled to stay in contention, the classification was being decided until it became a head to head between Herbin and Henseleit, a duel of golfers with very different characteristics who, nevertheless, were the ones who best adapted their game to the course of La Reserva Club. Herbin confessed in her post-tournament statements that it was on the 15th when she first became aware of the situation when she looked at the scoreboard, and despite the pressure both players gave a recital of good play in the final stretch and the Frenchwoman finished off with two birdies that gave her the victory and the trophy presented to her by Annika Sorenstam, host of the tournament.
In the end, satisfaction and emotion in the words of a Herbin who thus achieves her second title on the Ladies European Tour (after the one achieved in the Lacoste Ladies Open de France in 2015) and who maintains a very special relationship with our country, as she trains under Vicente Ballesteros, Seve’s brother, and in this tournament she has had the collaboration of the professional Juan Ochoa as caddie, another variable that has helped to solve the equation of her victory.
“I struggled to go for the title today. Minus three in these conditions is a very good round and I finished with two birdies to win by one. I hit the ball very well all week,” summed up Herbin, who had words of praise for the La Reserva course. “It’s a great course. I recommend everyone to come and play it because there are some phenomenal shots and views, and the quality of the greens is one of the best we can find in Spain”.
Céline Herbin made a very important decision a few years ago to put aside her career as an engineer to dedicate herself professionally to golf, and the path she decided to take has been far from easy. The Frenchwoman arrived at this first stop of the Ladies European Tour in Sotogrande after having missed five cuts on the LPGA Tour, circuit in which she also has a card.
“There are always ups and downs in this sport. Ten bad weeks and one good week, and this is the one that counts. It’s hard to find the strength to keep working, believing in yourself, and have work discipline. The beginning of the year has been a bit weak and I came here because I know I play well in Spain to give me some encouragement and confidence before returning to America for two months. The plan has worked out very well.
With her runner-up finish, the German Henseleit reaffirms herself as one of the main promises of European golf and adds her sixth place in the top nine in seven tournaments, achievements to which must be added her qualification for the next U. S. Open. Behind, Charlotte Thompson, Camille Chevallier and Caroline Hedwall, all with -2, and in sixth place Carmen Alonso and María Parra, the best Spaniards with -1, as well as Kelsey MacDonald and Daniela Holmqvist. Also noteworthy is the thirteenth place of Luna Sobrón and María Hernández, with +3 overall.
Alonso closed a magnificent round from tee to green, but could not certify with the putter a result that could have brought her closer to victory.
“It was a good day for me, I played very well off the tee and took 17 greens, but the putts didn’t want to go in. Overall, I’m very happy with the round and the work I did. Obviously, what I always want is to grow every day, to keep working, to see if we are lucky to get those putts and thus be there to dispute the victory, “said the player from Valladolid.
On the other hand, the public’s favorite, María Parra from Guadiare, finished very satisfied despite not having been able to fight for the victory.
“The tournament has been incredible, the course, spectacular and all the people who have come to support, too. We have to thank those who take care of the course for these conditions, also to Jaime, my caddie, for putting up with me on the course, and above all to all the sponsors of the La Reserva de Sotogrande Invitational hosted by ANNIKA”.
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Teletype from La Reserva Club de Sotogrande
– Annika Sorenstam proved that the title of tournament host is more than deserved. In addition to attending to all the journalistic commitments, Annika gave a lesson in the Pro-Am of the tournament, left the children who participated in the clinic on Saturday speechless and demonstrated her knowledge and communication skills from the LET broadcast booth during the weekend. The culmination, the ceremony in which he presented the trophy of this La Reserva de Sotogrande Invitational hosted by ANNIKA to an excited Céline Herbin.
– In addition to Céline Herbin, the other big winner of the tournament was the Spanish Association Against Cancer, which has managed to raise more than 33,000 € in the various charity initiatives that have been launched during the week.
– Juan Ochoa and Mariano Ochoa, brothers and golf professionals, have also demonstrated their quality and pedigree as caddies. Good connoisseurs of the courses in the area, the Ochoas have had a wonderful rapport with their bosses: Céline Herbin, champion, and Carmen Alonso, sixth classified. Herbin had words of thanks for Juan, who has not only helped her on a technical level: “During these days, and especially today, we have talked about many things between blows. You have seen me smiling a lot on the field, we have been making jokes and he has helped me to have fun and to abstract myself from the result”. As we indicated in Friday’s chronicle, Juan Ochoa and Céline Herbin shared a television program when they both participated in El Legado, on Canal+ Golf (now Movistar Golf) and their good harmony has resulted in a firm proposal to extend the collaboration. The ball is in Ochoa’s court, who has to make a decision.
– Suzann Peterssen has spent the day at La Reserva Club de Sotogrande as vice-captain of the European Solheim Cup team and complementing the work of Catriona Matthew. Among the contenders she has followed during the last day, the Norwegian Marianne Skarpnord.
– It is worth mentioning the indomitable spirit shown by Caroline Hedwall and her final reaction with -4 in the last four holes (birdie, eagle, par, birdie) that took her up to third place after being lost in the standings. Despite not fighting for the title, the Swede threw her fist in the air when she birdied the last hole of the tournament.
– Astrid Vayson de Pradenne scored the second hole-in-one of the tournament by hitting a 9-iron off the tee on the 15th hole, a 135-meter par 3.
La Reserva de Sotogrande Invitational hosted by ANNIKA is sponsored by Sotogrande SA, the founding company of Sotogrande, and organized by Deporte & Business and the Ladies European Tour. The tournament has had extensive international television coverage and viewers in our country have been able to enjoy it live during the four days through Movistar Golf, Teledeporte and Andalucía TV.
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