Scotland’s Carly Booth ended a seven-year wait for her third Ladies European Tour title with victory in the Tipsport Czech Ladies Open, a dual-ranking event with the LET Access Series.
Booth carded rounds of 68, 69 and 70 for a nine-under-par winning total at Karlštejn Golf Resort to finish a stroke ahead of Sanna Nuutinen, Anais Meysonnier, Charlotte Thompson and Hayley Davis.
Booth, 27, won both of her previous titles in 2012, at the Scottish and Swiss Opens, and was overwhelmed with emotion when she realised that she had finally added a third win to her CV. After completing her final round, she asked a tour photographer what the leading score was and then how many people were on it. He said, “Just you: you’ve won,” and she burst into tears.
Her topsy-turvy round included seven birdies and five bogeys. Walking off the final green she asked her caddy, Andy Carter, “Have I just played golf, or been at Alton Towers? I never want to go on a rollercoaster again.”
She began the final round tied for the lead with Nuutinen on seven under, but had a nervy start, hitting her first drive out of bounds and then dropping three shots in her first four holes. However, she produced a gutsy fight back, with birdies on the 5th, 7th and 9th to make the turn in level par, and regain a share of the lead.
She took the outright lead after birdies on 11 and 13, but hit a wall at 14 with a bogey, followed by another on 15, where she made another great up and down from 54 yards to save herself from dropping two shots. Birdies at 16 and 17 allowed her to finish with a par on the last to take the title – not that she knew it.
“It was probably just as well I didn’t know what the situation was,” said Booth. “I’m a little bit flabbergasted by the whole day. I played good golf and I really had to dig deep in the final round. I’m overwhelmed with happiness to have finally won again.”