For the second time in three weeks, Michaela Vavrova will hold a one-shot final round lead at an LET Access Series (LETAS) event as she bids to win her first professional title on home soil at TALE Ski Golf & Hotel Resort.
The Slovak golfer, 25, shot an even-par 72 and at one-under overall leads France’s Lauren Holmey (69) by one stroke after Thursday’s second round at the Ladies Slovak Golf Open.
Vavrova remains the only player under-par in the 115-player field. After Holmey, at three-over for the tournament are the duo of The Netherlands’ Anne-Sterre den Dunnen (71) and Czechia’s Tereza Zapletal Kozeluhova (71).
“I am happy,” Vavrova said. “I was two-over in the front nine, and then I kind of had to do something in the back nine so I shot two-under and it was level par. I’m pretty happy with how I handled the situation.
“At the beginning I felt a little nervous, I would say. But then I got a little angry and I think the anger helped me switch to a more positive mindset. And yeah, I was just happy that the putts start falling in and it was a good round.”
Starting from hole 10 in the afternoon session, Vavrova made four straight pars but quickly followed it with three consecutive bogeys from holes 14 to 16 which temporarily dropped her out of the lead.
“On 14, I just went for the green,” she said. “I mean I hit a good shot. It was just like being high in the rough. But then I just messed up my chip and had to chip again and didn’t make a putt. So that was kind of unfortunate.
“And then on 15 I actually three-putted from like three metres, which I mean it just hurts. Then 16 I don’t know, I miscalculated my yardage and it was more of a mindset that I started, like going down that hole.
“But then I told myself, well, that’s okay. We have to stop that because I still have a whole front nine to play. And so I did, and I made that switch and decided to focus.”
The mentality shift paid dividends immediately, as Vavrova made four birdies in a five-hole stretch from hole 18 to hole 4 to regain the solo lead.
“It was actually amazing,” she said. “I mishit my tee shot on 18 and I was in the rough. And I feel like that was the turning point where I was like, this not over yet.
“I just like decided to hit it on the green from the rough, and I did, and then I putted better. I finally got the speed of the green a little bit. I holed a long putt on the first hole and missed a short putt on sthe econd, which was also a birdie putt.
“But I’m like, it’s okay. And then on the third I made a four-metre putt, and on four as well. I was happy that the putts finally started falling in.”
During the morning session, play was suspended at 10am (local time) due to sighting of bears on the course. All players were safely evacuated to the clubhouse.
The wildlife response team was deployed, and play was restarted once it was safe to continue at 11.15am thanks to the swift efforts from promoter Jozef Sotak, staff members of the golf club and the wildlife response team.
As a result, the afternoon tee times were delayed by 1 hour 15 minutes. Vavrova was among those impacted.
“Me, my granddad and my mom, we were having coffee,” she said. “I just got the notification. But there was nothing like a storm or anything. So, I’m like, this is a little weird. And the first thought came to my mind was it’s probably the bears.
“But I couldn’t really believe it. And then we started getting messages and, yeah, there’s a bear. I just came to the course earlier and had lunch, and we actually did some crosswords with the other Slovak girls. I took a little nap before playing, so it actually kind of helped me.”
Two weeks ago, at the Women’s Irish Challenge, Vavrova also held a one-shot lead but slumped to a final round six-over 78 to finish tied-16th.
“I’m very excited,” she said. “It’s special to have all my family and friends and to have my coach on the bag this week. I think I just need to rest before tomorrow and go with a positive mindset and just take it one shot at a time.
“Hopefully all the nerves will go away tomorrow. I mean, I will be nervous, but I just hope I will handle it a little better this time.”
Vavrova’s closest competitor will be Holmey, who has already won on the LETAS this season at the Arkea Montauban Ladies Open. The Frenchwoman fired a three-under 69 to earn her spot in the final flight.
Despite opening with two bogeys in her first three holes, Holmey recovered with a blitz of three straight birdies from holes 14 to 16 before also birdieing the par-5 18th hole and adding another on the par-3 5th hole.
Having lost top spot in the LETAS Order of Merit last week following Swede Moa Svedenskiold’s playoff victory in Denmark, Holmey will be aiming to join Svedenskiold on two LETAS win and reclaim pole position.
Behind den Dunnen and Zapletal Kozeluhova at four-over overall are the quintet of England’s Ellie Gower (71), Slovakia’s Anika Bolcikova (74), Germany’s Hanna Tauber (73), Iceland’s Andrea Bergsdottir (72) and French amateur Alice Kong (73).
Gower made her second career hole-in-one on the par-3 7th hole to be five adrift of Vavrova and give herself a chance heading into Friday’s finl round.
She said: “It was playing 160m and then it was like 50m downhill. I had a 7-iron, it was a really good shot and it was going straight for the flag and I was like, be good. And then the girls who I was playing with were like, oh my God, I think that’s gone in, which it had. So yeah, really happy about that.
“I saw it go in, but like, the flag was like holding it up a little bit, so we couldn’t quite tell. I didn’t want to get my hopes up too much. When we got down there, I just had to push the flag and it went in.
“It’s really special. I mean this is my first one as a pro in a tournament, and it was actually a good shot. My first hole-in-one wasn’t actually a good shot. It was seven or eight years ago. I just got loads of sidespin and it went in.”
Four Slovak players made the cut, which was set at a whopping 14-over-par, for Friday’s final round. Vavrova and Bolcikova are joined by Katarina Drocarova (75) at nine-over and amateur Petra Babicova (78) at 14-over.
Fifty-one players made the cut and will return to compete for a share of the €50,000prize pool on Friday. The final round resumes at 8am with the final flight of Vavrova, Holmey and den Dunnen teeing off at 9.28am.
Keep up with all the action on the LETAS on our socials – @LETAccess on Instagram and X and LET Access Series on Facebook.
