Steady start for McCook at Q School in La Manga
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Nethy Bridge's Hannah McCook has made a steady start in the Final Stage of Qualifying School at La Manga in Spain.
The 26 year old carded a five over 76 on the opening day yesterday to be in the middle of the pack with the top 60 players progressing to the final day of play.
She is tied in 57th place in the race for cards for the 2020 Ladies European Tour.
McCook squeaked into the Final Stage of Q School by the smallest of margins and is now hoping to turn that to her advantage.
She had to get up and down from a bunker in two at the 18th hole in the fourth and final round at La Manga in pre-qualifying to make it to the last stage of competition for the 2020 Ladies European Tour.
Speaking ahead off teeing off, McCook told the Strathy: “I am delighted to make it through again but it was a bit of a close thing in the end. But making the cut is all the counts and it’s a fresh start for Final Stage.”
Sinking the putt means that McCook, who finished 48th on the LET Access Series Order of Merit in her debut season, is guaranteed to have the same playing rights as last season.
But it could be a whole lot better. The top 20 players from the field of 120 will qualify for the Ladies European Tour.
“I’ll be aiming to finish as high as possible. Anyone in the field could finish in the top five,” said McCook, who has been playing on the second tier.
A total of 63 players at 13-over-par or better advanced from pre-qualifying.
They have joined the 57 players already exempt to make a field of 120 players at La Manga Club, to be played over five rounds on the resort’s North and South courses, and running until this Sunday (January 26).
The top 20 players will earn full LET cards – the first five will qualify in Category 5c and a further 15 in Category 8a.
There are 10 amateurs in the field at Final Stage. Slovenian Pia Babnik is the youngest competitor at 16.
There are 29 nationalities represented at the Final Stage.
England is represented by 24 competitors, followed by Sweden with 17 and France with 15. There are five players competing from Scotland.
n Live scoring can be followed at https://ladies
europeantour.com/ and on Google.
