Marianne Skarpnord delighted the home fans with a victory in the Ladies Norwegian Challenge at Hauger Golf Club in Oslo on the Ladies European Tour Access Series on Friday.
The 26-year-old from Sarpsborg in Norway started the final round three strokes clear of Swede Camilla Lennarth but a final round of 73 was good enough to end the three-round tournament five strokes ahead of Daniela Holmqvist, a Swedish amateur.
The victory was Skarpnord’s first on the Access Series but her third as a professional golfer after she won twice on the main Ladies European Tour in Switzerland and Italy in 2009.
She decided to play in the tournament to please her main sponsor, Nordea, as the tournament was also sanctioned by the Nordea Tour. She felt that she had made the right decision as the tournament was played in beautiful sunshine over all three days.
“I was very pleased because I didn’t play any golf coming into the tournament so I didn’t know how I was going to play,” said Skarpnord, who shot rounds of 73, 66 and 73. “I played okay but putted the best on the second day. In the final round I played really good the first five holes and putted well the last five holes but in between it was nothing to talk about.”
Skarpnord birdied the first and the fifth but double bogeyed the par-four sixth before dropping another shot at the ninth. She also bogeyed the 10th but picked up a stroke at the par-three 17th.
She finished on a four under par total of 212 and won €5000. Her next event will be the Ladies Irish Open supported by Failte Ireland at Killeen Castle from August 3-5 on the Ladies European Tour, while the next LETAS event is the Women’s Bank Open to be played on August 9-11 at Hillside Golf Club in Helsinki, Finland.