Susanne Lichtenberg from Germany wins 2017 European Senior Ladies’ Championship in play-off against last year's champion, Macarena Campomanes, from Spain.
In the Senior Men’s Championship, Switzerland's Markus Frank, who led from start to finish, wins the European title.
The 2017 European Senior Men’s and Ladies’ Championship has been played over three rounds of stroke play at magnificent Golf Club Schloss Schönborn near Vienna, Austria, from Thursday, 15 to Saturday, 17 June.
While the practice rounds and first round were played in superb weather conditions, the start of day two had to be postponed by one hour due to lightning. Humid conditions presented an extra challenge to the players on this difficult and very tactical course. High winds on day three made it a tough round to finish.
Markus Frank started with an excellent round of 69, four under par, the lowest round of the tournament, followed by a 71, two under, on day 2.
Going into the final round, four shots ahead of Sweden’s Thomas Nilsson, Frank started to show some nerves. In the end, a score of 78, resulting in a total of 218, one under par, proved enough to secure his third European title, exactly 20 years after winning the European Mid-Amateur Championship for the second consecutive time.
With a birdie on the last hole and a final round of one under par, Germany’s Martin Birkholz secured the silver medal; Nilsson was awarded the bronze. Birkholz (75, 73, 72) and Nilsson (70, 74, 76) both recorded a final score of 220 strokes.
Having turned 60 years just a few weeks before the championship, Frank also won the 60+ age category.
The ladies’ championship was exciting until the very end. On day one, defending champion, Macarena Campomanes, and 2016 silver medallist, Sylvie van Molle, seemed to continue the ‘battle’, where they left off the previous year. The Spaniard and Belgian led the field at one over par after the first round. On the second day, however, Jane Rees, from Wales, posted the best round of the day, 74, to move to first place.
On Saturday, the final flight was chased by the rest of the field and in the end a play-off had to bring about the decision.
In the second-last group, Campomanes was one ahead of Lichtenberg on Tee 18. Both players were short of the green in three, when Campomanes left her chip short and Lichtenberg fought her way into a play-off with a great up-and-down. Lichtenberg and Campomanes, who recorded a total of 231 strokes, 12-over par, with rounds of 80, 76, 75 and 74, 80, 77, respectively, then still unsure of the standings, had to wait for the final group to finish before they knew that they had to make their way to the 11th tee again.
Campomanes, who was chosen by lot to tee off first, did not hit the green on the 165m Par 3, whereas Lichtenberg followed with an excellent tee shot, placing her ball a few metres short of the pin. Campomanes’ second shot found the bunker, from where she nearly holed the third. With a comfortable two-putt, Lichtenberg then secured the European title.
The bronze medal was awarded to Sweden's Maria Liberg, who narrowly missed out on a medal the previous year. With the best round of the final day, 73, after rounds of 81 and 79 on day one and two, respectively, Liberg rose up seven places on the leaderboard and onto the podium with a total of 233 (+14).
The 60+ age category was won by Tessa Oldenbourg from Germany.
