Lauren Walsh and Olivia Mehaffey enjoy the Roman environs this week as the Ladies European Tour returns to Lazio and Golf Nazionale after a year’s hiatus for the Ladies Italian Open. 54 holes from Friday to Sunday will decide a new champion with the tournament’s current holder, Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux not taking part.
Mehaffey and Walsh make up the Irish contingent of a 34 nationality, 132-strong field heading around the stunning Golf Nazionale GC. Walsh comes into the week off the back of a T-65th in last week’s Scandinavian Mixed, looking to add to her two top-ten finishes so far this season, and she’ll be hoping to rediscover the form she showed in the opening round in Helsingborg when she found herself inside the top five alongside some of the leading players on the DP World Tour.
The diverse field that takes to the stage in Lazio features a sizeable cohort of first timers with no fewer than 20 rookies in action. This doesn’t in any way dilute the talent pool this week however, with 30 previous LET champions in the mix including winners from this year, Chiara Tamburlini and Shannon Tan who are looking to add to their maiden victories in their rookie year on tour.
The challenge this week comes in the form of Golf Nazionale, just a short spin from the Italian capital. This course, designed by George and Jim Fazio with Davide Mezzacane, opened in 1990 and time has allowed the stately oaks which line the fairways to mature into a stunning backdrop. The host venue for the 1991 World Cup plays to a par-72 at 6462m in length for the field this week. The course is bookended with opening and closing par-5s with two further for good measure. Both nines have two par-3s each including a tempter on the 9th hole of just 144 yards, so expect to see action at the turn this week.
With the success of Irish athletics this past week and particularly from the Irish ladies, Walsh and Mehaffey have plenty of inspiration to draw from heading into the week. Mehaffey will be looking to secure Sunday golf for the first time since the German Masters a month ago. She currently sits 112th on the OOM for this season. Meanwhile Walsh, who is 29th on the OOM will aim to see if she can replicate her form from last Thursday which saw her -5 after the opening round in Sweden.
The late withdrawal of OOM leader Bronte Law this week may be just the shot in the arm for those at the business end of the rankings to make moves around Golf Nazionale while others will be looking to stake a claim for Olympic selection with Paris ’24 just around the corner. Plenty of motivating factors for the field should make for an engaging head-to-head this week, not least for the 10 Italian players taking part in their national championship.
One of those home favourites, Alessandra Fanali, who finished runner up as an amateur last time in the Ladies Italian Open gave her thoughts heading into her home tournament: “I have great memories of that week,” Fanali said. “It was my first week after college and I was just so excited to get back home and see what was going to happen. Honestly, I was not expecting a week like that! My family were there, Giulio [my boyfriend] was caddying for me. It was pretty good, and I played solid golf. For sure it gave me some great momentum for qualifying for the LET.” Two years on, Fanali, now her country’s highest ranked player in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, is looking to go one better and etch her name in the record books in front of family and friends. “It would be crazy [to win],” she explained. “I don’t think an Italian has ever won it before, so it would be crazy, especially at this golf course [Golf Nazionale], because it’s where Matteo Manassero made his comeback last year [winning] on the Challenge Tour. I have so many good memories here. I shot my record score here when I was 18 years old. So, there’s a lot of stuff. We’ll see what happens, but it would mean a lot to win.”
Mehaffey will be first out in match 11 with Anna Magnusson and Kelsey Bennett for company as the threeball gets underway at 9.50am local time off the first tee. Walsh, meanwhile, will take to the course in the afternoon groups with a 13.23pm start from the 10th tee box alongside Laura Sluman and Aunchisa Utama for her walk around the Italian countryside. In a week where Adeleke, Mawdsley, Becker and Mageean wrote their names into the history books, can either of the two emulate the feats of the past week and challenge at the top come Sunday.
What a wave of inspiration and momentum for Irish sport to ride into town on.