Germany’s Theresa De Bochdanovits clinched her first professional title in dramatic fashion after firing a final round 66 to post the winning overall score of nine-under-par at the Terre Blanche Ladies Open.
The LET Access Series (LETAS) rookie pipped her playing partner, Australia’s Belinda Ji (67), by one shot to claim the winner’s cheque of €7,200.
Playing in the fourth-to-last flight, De Bochdanovits birdied the closing 18th hole to set the clubhouse score to catch.
With the final flight on the 18th tee, Scotland’s Lorna Mcclymont held a two-shot lead but made a quadruple bogey 9 after pulling her approach shot left into the bushes and chipping past the hole towards the water hazard.
De Bochdanovits, who was watching the drama unfold greenside, was confirmed as the champion and showered with water by good friend Lisa Marie Schumacher once Mcclymont missed her chip for double bogey.
“I’m just very overwhelmed, but very happy and very relieved,” she said. “I never thought this was going to happen, but I’ll definitely take it. I’m just happy I played a good round of golf.
“I never had in mind that I might win, but I just wanted to stay calm and do it shot by shot. Since yesterday, my putter wasn’t really that warm. I just wanted to make more putts and I did that, so I achieved my goal for today.”
De Bochdanovits began her day with birdies on holes 2 and 4, before giving back a shot with a bogey on the par-5 6th hole.
She then reeled in three birdies in a row across the next three holes to make the turn three shots behind Mcclymont, before closing with birdies on holes 15 and 18.
About Mcclymont’s final hole trouble, De Bochdanovits said: “I felt really bad because I’ve been in that situation before where I fumbled a three-shot lead on the last hole.
“I mean, that’s golf. It sucks. And I just couldn’t believe it. I tried to stay calm, not to, like, draw any conclusions too early, let’s wait till we have it on the scoreboard.
“Rationally, I knew it when Lorna didn’t hole her chip (for double bogey). But at the same time, I didn’t want to celebrate too early. And then Lisa started pouring water over my head. I was like, well, yeah, I guess this is it.”
Mcclymont had been flawless all day, going bogey-free across her previous 38 holes until her errant approach on hole 18 erased her four birdies earlier in the day as she signed for a 72 to finish in tied-third on seven-under-par.
The Scotswoman made the turn with a two-stroke lead over Rebecca Earl, who briefly held the solo lead early on at 10-under-par before dropping down the leaderboard with bogeys on holes 7, 8, 11 and 17.
Mcclymont made birdies on holes 4, 7 and 8 before extending her advantage over De Bochdanovits to two strokes with another birdie on the par-4 17th.
“Well, after she made that birdie on 17, I was like, okay, well, I mean, I’m second place,” De Bochdanovits said. “I’ll take that as my best finish this year, so why not?
“And then we went to watch, the last hole, and we saw her struggling. I felt really bad because I’ve been in that situation before where I fumbled a three-shot lead on the last hole.
“It was our state championship at home. I hit two into the water and tripled the last hole, so we had to go into a play-off, tied the first hole, and then I hit it into the water again. It was a whole mess.
“I was just really nervous. I think it was four or five years ago. I guess I’ve become a bit calmer, more relaxed and those are all experiences that we need that go through this whole life as a golfer.”
With the win, De Bochdanovits has jumped inside the top seven of the LETAS Order of Merit (OOM) standings with just four tournaments remaining.
She said: “I never thought that the top seven would be achievable this season. It’s my first season on Tour. Going into the season, I just wanted to see how it went.
“Then after a couple of good results, I was like, okay, let’s go for the top 32 for sure. That’s possible. But now, I mean, I can’t believe that I’m actually in the top seven right now.
“But we still have four events to go, a lot golf to play, a lot can happen. I’m going to try to remain where I am, but you never know, it’s golf, so I’m just going to try to do my thing, stay calm, play my game and see what happens.”
Australia’s Ji recorded her best LETAS result coming solo second, after a round of 67 comprising seven birdies and two bogeys to finish on eight-under-par overall.
France’s Marine Griffaut (68) too scored her best career finish on home soil, coming in a tie for third at seven-under-par alongside Mcclymont, Switzerland’s Lana Guyot (70) and Natalie Armbruester (71) and England’s Earl (72).
Guyot, 15, scooped the Best Amateur Award on her second LETAS start.
Another shot behind in a tie for eighth came the duo of Sweden’s Isabell Ekstrom (68) and England’s Jessica Hall (72) on six-under-par.
In a tie for tenth on four-under-par are Czechia’s Anna Andrysova (69) and amateur Anna Ludvova (70), Norway’s Silje Torvund Ohma (69) and England’s Billie-Jo Smith (73).
OOM leader Lauren Holmey (71) finished a further stroke behind in tied 14th alongside French amateur Axelle Guillemard (69), Ireland’s Canice Screene (70) and England’s Bel Wardle (73).
With four events to play, Holmey keeps her lead atop the OOM standings while Armbruester has leapfrogged Sweden’s Moa Svedenskiold, who finished in a tie for 20th on one-under-par overall, into second place.
Czechia’s Tereza Zapletal Kozeluhova, who missed the cut, remains in fourth as does Wardle in fifth and Sweden’s Elsa Svensson in sixth. De Bochdanovits rounds out the top seven, who will all receive full status to play on the LET for the 2027 season.
The Race to Islantilla continues next week at the October 14-16 Iberdrola Calatayud Ladies Open at Gambito Golf Calatayud.
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