{"id":21828,"date":"2018-11-26T09:12:04","date_gmt":"2018-11-26T09:12:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/anne-van-dam-wins-the-andalucia-costa-del-sol-open-de-espana-femenino\/"},"modified":"2018-11-26T09:12:04","modified_gmt":"2018-11-26T09:12:04","slug":"anne-van-dam-wins-the-andalucia-costa-del-sol-open-de-espana-femenino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/anne-van-dam-wins-the-andalucia-costa-del-sol-open-de-espana-femenino\/","title":{"rendered":"Anne Van Dam wins the Andaluc\u00eda Costa del Sol Open de Espa\u00f1a Femenino"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Anne Van Dam, powerful, smiling, with a confidence that can withstand any kind of challenge, has extended her Spanish idyll by brilliantly winning the Andaluc\u00eda Costa del Sol Open de Espa\u00f1a Femenino held at La Quinta Golf, her second consecutive great success after winning first place, just two months ago, at the Estrella Damm Mediterranean Ladies Open.
The Dutch golfer, a golfing prodigy clearly evident in her powerful tee shots, precise approach shots and putts, most of them straight, was the main protagonist of a tournament where Azahara Mu\u00f1oz from Malaga, combative like few others, an example of grit from start to finish, tried everything during four days to play that starring role.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Affected by a stumbling competition development, the pernicious effect of a severe and premature suspension of the first day due to rain, both Anne Van Dam and Azahara Mu\u00f1oz established for a long time, in practice for almost three days, a delayed and distant confrontation, just until they both met, at the top of the ranking, with something really definite.<\/p>\n

\"\"
It really happened in the mid-morning of this fourth and final day, when time was finally scratched and the third round was concluded and both were summoned to the truly definitive duel. At that moment Anne Van Dam was already giving undeniable signs of her winning intentions, when three birdies in the seven holes she had left to play to complete the previous day\u2019s round catapulted her to the lead with 12 under par and four ahead of Azahara Mu\u00f1oz.
The income, solid but not decisive, faltered in fact at the beginning of the fourth round, when two consecutive birdies by Azahara Mu\u00f1oz encouraged the spectators to give wings to their imagination. The disadvantage, minimized to two strokes, was however widened again by something as simple as Anne Van Dam demanding perfection to give chase.
The Dutchwoman, persistent and persistent, offered increasing security in her game, unscathed by the successive proposals of Azahara Mu\u00f1oz, with whom she established from the beginning a one-on-one battle for the title given the wide difference accumulated with respect to the rest of the rivals.
There were many holes left, yes, and the differences were not insurmountable, but the minimal hesitation of Azahara Mu\u00f1oz in the first part of the round opened a definitive gap of 6 strokes. The spectacular and vibrant reaction of the Malaga native to try to reedit her double consecutive triumph of the 2016 and 2017 editions was of no use, four wonderful birdies on holes 10, 12, 14 and 15 that caused widespread admiration, a last gasp of golfing genius on the part of the Malaga native before handing over the winning baton to Anne Van Dam. <\/p>\n

\"\"
And then came the 16th hole, where Azahara Mu\u00f1oz sent the ball out of bounds, a definitive mistake \u2013 \u201cI made a mistake in the choice of the club\u201d, she lamented at the end- which does not tarnish an outstanding performance, spearhead of another no less remarkable set of Spanish players, with four representatives in the top ten: Azahara Mu\u00f1oz, second; Natalia Escuriola, fourth; Luna Sobr\u00f3n, sixth; and Marta Sanz, eighth.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

FINAL RANKING<\/strong><\/p>\n

1.- Anne van Dam (NED) 271 (68+67+66+66+70)<\/p>\n

2.- Azahara Mu\u00f1oz (ESP) 274 (68+68+69+69+69)<\/p>\n

3.- Catriona Matthew (SCO) 278 70+67+71+70)<\/p>\n

4.- Olivia Cowan (GER) 279 (68+70+72+69)<\/p>\n

+.- Natalia Escuriola (ESP) 279 (72+68+70+69)<\/p>\n

6.- Luna Sobr\u00f3n (ESP) 280 (72+70+66+72)<\/p>\n

8.- Marta Sanz (ESP) 281 (73+67+74+67)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

AROUND THE GREEN<\/strong><\/p>\n

A blow to the table for Pro Spain<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Andaluc\u00eda Costa del Sol Open de Espa\u00f1a Femenino 2018 has yielded great results for the local Armada. Azahara Mu\u00f1oz aside, it is worthy of praise the extraordinary weekend of three young players of the Pro Spain Program, Natalia Escuriola (-5), Luna Sobr\u00f3n (-4) and Marta Sanz (-3), all of them in Top 10 position. <\/p>\n

Luna and Natalia arrived at La Quinta from Pedre\u00f1a (Cantabria), where they were proclaimed champion and runner-up of Spain, respectively. In Malaga their game has continued to flow, and how. <\/p>\n

On the other hand, Marta Sanz, who had a victory in Symetra Tour, left for the memory two spectacular rounds of 67 strokes. In this last round she got to -6, showing that when she starts the bike she is almost unstoppable. The Balearic Nuria Iturrios (par) has not performed badly in these two days, with two cards under par. <\/p>\n

In addition, four other Spanish golfers made the cut: Elia Folch (+4), Mar\u00eda Hern\u00e1ndez (+10), Piti Mart\u00ednez (+11) and Silvia Ba\u00f1\u00f3n (+12).<\/p>\n

Anne and Azahara are embraced by the authorities<\/strong><\/p>\n

The winner, Anne van Dam, as well as Azahara Mu\u00f1oz, recognized as the best Spanish player of the tournament, were entertained at the awards ceremony by the local authorities, who did not want to miss the opportunity to congratulate the protagonists of the tournament.<\/p>\n

The event was presided over by Monsalud Bautista, Territorial Delegate of Culture, Tourism and Sports of the Malaga Regional Government.<\/p>\n

Junta de Andaluc\u00eda; Arturo Bernal, General Director of Tourism of Costa del Sol; Manuel Carde\u00f1a, CEO of Acosol; Jos\u00e9 Luis G\u00f3mez, Managing Director of La Quinta Golf & Country Club; Gonzaga Escauriaza, President of the Royal Spanish Golf Federation; Pablo Mansilla, President of the Royal Andalusian Golf Federation; and Mark Lichtenhein, CEO of the Ladies European Tour.
A Golfer Named Anne van Dam<\/p>\n

62 tournaments played in the Ladies European Tour and two victories, in addition to another pair of wins in the LET Access Series. This is the summary of Anne van Dam\u2019s professional career at the age of 23. It is a coincidence that one of these successes was achieved on Spanish soil, in the Estrella Damm Mediterranean Ladies Open this year, an event in which she left the staff speechless with an exhibition of birdies. Her other victory took place at the Xiamen International Open in 2016. <\/p>\n

Between one success and another, the Dutchwoman has combined competition in Europe with the Symetra Tour, a circuit in which she has scored two Top 10 in this course. What is the secret of this Dutchwoman? This question can be answered with one piece of information: she is the player who reaches the most meters on average from the tee. In other words, she is a top-level hitter. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

THIS IS WHAT THEY TOLD US<\/strong><\/p>\n

Azahara Mu\u00f1oz (2nd with 274 strokes, -10. Birdies on holes 1, 2, 10, 12 and 14, bogeys on 5 and 9, and double bogey on 16).<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI had four birdies and I wanted to continue with that streak, but I made the wrong club and went right, and you can\u2019t miss there. It\u2019s a shame, but I have to be proud, I fought until the end, I was aggressive and tried to make another birdie. Sometimes you win and sometimes not. So I can only congratulate Anne. <\/p>\n

Sometimes I don\u2019t start until I\u2019m on the ropes, and that\u2019s how it was today, maybe a little late. I\u2019ll keep the good putts I made on the last nine holes. Today was a marathon again, but I felt very good, to be honest. The adrenaline is pumping, and tomorrow I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll be tired, but I liked it. Besides, it\u2019s the last effort, since we are almost in the pre-season\u201d. <\/p>\n

Natalia Escuriola (4th with 279 strokes, -5. Today 69, -2 Birdies on holes 5, 11, 15, 17 and 18; bogey on 4, 6 and 13)<\/strong>
\u201cI have played very well all week, but the truth is that just today I have not played as well as I would have liked. The best thing is the result, which was much better than the game showed. It has been a very complicated tournament because of the weather: playing 27 holes one day, three on another\u2026 it is difficult. The balance of the year is very good, I give it a 9.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Luna Sobr\u00f3n (6th with 280 strokes, -4. Today 72, +1. Birdies on holes 1 and 15, and bogeys on 3, 6 and 13).<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m happy with the tournament I\u2019ve done, I\u2019ve played very well. I think I\u2019m very close to making a big jump, and I\u2019m very confident and looking forward to keep working. This jump is related to putting. Today I haven\u2019t putted many, and I have had opportunities, but I see that they are coming in and that I am making rounds under par. <\/p>\n

Between the Spanish Professional Championship last week, the two previous ones at the LET, with the third place at the Lacoste, and this result, it is to be very happy. I have gained a lot of strength to continue working next year. From January onwards, I\u2019ll be back to the top again\u201d. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Marta Sanz (8th with 280 strokes (-4). Today 67, -4. Birdies on holes 1, 5, 6, 9, 14 and 15, and bogeys on 2 and 15). <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to be happy, because in this last round I made up a lot of ground. I had a little thorn from the last holes, where I had birdie options. But well, I\u2019m going to be close to the top 10, so I\u2019m not going to complain. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s the end of a year in which I played well and won three times, but my goal was to get the LPGA card and I didn\u2019t get it. But well, the end of the year shows that I can go higher.\u201d <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anne Van Dam, powerful, smiling, with a confidence that can withstand any kind of challenge, has extended her Spanish idyll by brilliantly winning the Andaluc\u00eda Costa del Sol Open de Espa\u00f1a Femenino held at La Quinta Golf, her second consecutive great success after winning first place, just two months ago, at the Estrella Damm Mediterranean […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":8963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[125],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}