•  La Sella Open tournament, 20-23 July in Dénia (Alicante)

One of the most long-awaited competitions of the Ladies European Tour 2023 is drawing near. At the end of next month, between 20-23 July, the best ladies players of the LET will arrive at the renowned La Sella Golf course, in Dénia (Alicante), with the aim of taking home the new Open title. 

La Sella Open will be a special event, there’s no doubt about that. Conceived as a ‘tournament for the ladies’ its ethos is to provide ladies players with a major tournament to bridge the divide between the social and financial recognition they receive compared to their male counterparts. As such, it has the great incentive of being the women’s golf tournament awarding the highest prize money in Spain—with 1,000,000 euros waiting to be won—making this a watershed moment for women’s professional golf in Spain. 

The list of golfers that will enliven this new LET highlight on European soil includes some of ladies golf’s biggest names, and gathers together promising young players ready to upset the odds. There will also be some golfers who will playing ‘on home ground’ because of their special ties to La Sella Golf, such as Celin Herbin, Leticia Ras and Sock Hwee Koh.

Celine Herbin 

The French player and two-time-winner on the European circuit Celine Herbin arrived at La Sella a few years ago for a round of training and fell in love with the course and the area. Celine has now taken up residence in La Sella and has settled wholeheartedly into Dénia and at La Sella Golf, where she feels very much at home. Undoubtedly, due to her knowledge of the course, her game and career (this year she has chalked up various top-10s on the circuit), she is one of the firm favourites in the running to win the title.

 The French golfer hopes to take home her third LET victory at La Sella Open, after her triumph at the Lacoste Ladies Open de France in 2015 and the inaugural edition of La Reserva de Sotogrande Invitational in 2019.

Celine is delighted to be able to play at La Sella Open, on a course she calls “my home, the perfect place to relax and train, but also a course that is every bit of a challenge.” 

 Regarding her participation at this major event, the French player seems to be taking it very much in her stride, declaring herself “very motivated by my last result on the circuit and how I am playing this year. I want to win La Sella and I’m on top form to do that.”

 Ana Peláez 

Spanish representation at La Sella Open has been assured by names such as Ana Peláez from Malaga, who is up against the double challenge of being the first in with a chance to be a prizewinner whilst also attempting to secure a place on the European team for the Solheim Cup.

Known for her dazzling smile and fist-pumping victory celebrations, this player achieved a momentous second place in the Aramco Series Sotogrande in 2022, before racking up three more runner-up spots this year in the Joburg Ladies Open, South Africa Womens Open and the Helsingborg Open. 

Will La Sella Open be another golden opportunity for shoring up this magnificent track record? “That’s what I’m aiming for,” acknowledges Ana Peláez, “because this tournament means a lot to me, not just because it’s being played in Spain, at home, but because I have very fond memories of playing the Lacoste Promesas at La Sella a good few years ago. Hopefully I’ll see a lot of familiar faces, and that is always added motivation.”

European team for the upcoming Solheim Cup 2023 sits on the horizon. “I’m sure that there will be a very interesting lineup of players, all at the top of their game. I know that if I compete well, the Captain of the European team for the Solheim Cup will take note, aside from any points I score in such an important tournament as this. I dream of playing well,” Ana concludes.

The young golfer admits that she is especially excited to be competing in a tournament such as La Sella Open, whose significant prize total “says a lot about how much its organisers believe in women’s professional golf and the support that they want to offer women. Anything related to the struggle for equal winnings for men and women is to be welcomed. And how great that it is in Spain and on a course like La Sella where an initiative like this is happening,” the Andalusian player says with conviction.

Sock Hwee Koh 

Another prominent golfer set to become a household name at La Sella Open is Sock Hwee Koh from Singapore, a player with close ties to La Sella Golf. 

She has an exceptional caddie for the tournament in Dino Ferrer, a professional golf player and academy director at La Sella, who will help to form a solid and extremely motivated team with extensive knowledge of the course.

The Singaporean player is coming to La Sella Open ready to show off her talent and compile a good score. 

Leticia Ras 

Another name that stands out among the group of players in contention for La Sella Open is Leticia Ras-Anderica, born in Alicante and trained up in the sport at La Sella Golf but who now plays for Germany. After having attended the academy as a child, and thanks to the support of her parents and long-standing members of the club, John and Carmen, she left the amateur world behind in 2015 to venture into the realm of professionals. Leticia is now a player with experience on the large circuits: LET, LPGA and in Asia. 

 She is passionate about women’s golf and as a professional on tour, strives to promote the game among women and young girls. La Sella Open is a dream for Leticia, not only because it would be like playing on home turf, but as a tournament designed for women golf professionals.

As a local player, La Sella Open could be her tournament. For Leticia, playing at home is both a privilege and a great source of motivation. “La Sella is being surrounded by my friends, my principles, my family, the players and my childhood memories. I would love nothing more than to win at home,” she says.