(20 January 2011)
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New South Wales&apos Sarah Oh has her sights set on capturing her third straight Women&aposs NSW Open title this week at the Oatlands Golf Club starting tomorrow.
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The $125,000 Bing Lee / Samsung Women’s NSW Open sees the commencement of the Australian Ladies Professional Golf summer of golf, which involves five straight weeks of tournaments.
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Last year Oh recorded her second straight victory by the smallest of margins, just one shot over Queensland’s Katherine Hull. It was in fact Hull who was also runner-up to Oh in 2009 when she won her first title by three shots.
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When asked about her expectation for the week, the 22-year old stated “To win again of course! But I can’t control that (what other players do), so I just have to play my game and see what happens”.
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“I love playing at Oatlands, it seems like my home ground. I’ve played lots of golf there, when I was a junior and the course seems to suit my game.” Oh commented.
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Oh thrives on the challenge of playing in front of a home crowd. “I’ve a lot of Strathfield Golf Club friends who come to support me at the Open, that helps me a lot, it feels like home when I’m with them!” she said.
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Oh’s challengers will be led by current Rolex World No. 19, Hull. The 28-year old from the Sunshine Coast is coming off another successful year on the LPGA, where she captured her second LPGA title, the Navistar LPGA Classic and finished runner-up in the RICOH Women’s British Open, a major championship. Hull finished the year 12th on the LPGA Money List with just over $790,000.
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Crowd favourite England’s Laura Davies will be looking for her second Women’s NSW Open title when she returns this week. Davies, who won the Open in 2008, had a superb 2010 winning five times on the Ladies European Tour and finished second on the Henderson Money List with over 300,000 Euros.
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Other likely contenders this week include former winner and Oatlands member Joanne Mills, 2010 Portugal Ladies Open champion Karen Lunn, defending ActewAGL Royal Canberra Ladies Classic champion Kristie Smith, 2010 Club Car Series winner Sarah Kemp, Sarah Jane Smith, Nikki Garrett and rising stars Rebecca Flood, Alison Whitaker and Stacey Keating.
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The Oatlands golf course provides a wonderful venue for the Championship, offering a mix of challenging tree lined holes and reachable par fives all featuring small and beautifully bunkered greens which test the accuracy of irons and nerves of the putter.
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The Open is an integral part of the ALPG Tour&aposs major tournament schedule, made possible through the ongoing commitment and investment by Golf NSW and support of Oatlands Golf Club.
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