15th August 2014 | Sunshine Ladies Tour
Smit cracks top 15 in Asia
Two-time Sunshine Ladies Tour champion Monique Smit arrived home for a short break on the back of another top 10 finish on the Ladies Asian Golf Tour.
Smit missed the first four events of the season in Asia to support the newly launched Sunshine Ladies Tour at home.
However, following victories in the Dimension Data Ladies Pro-Am and the SuperSport Challenge, the Southern Cape golfer quickly made her mark with a tie for 10th in her first start at the weather-delayed Yeangder Open and a top 20 finish at the Kenda Tire TLPGA Open in New Taipei in May.
Following a tie for 27th at the Ladies European Tour’s Italian Open in June, Smit returned to Taiwan where she closed with a tie for seventh at the Jing-Du Construction Open last week.
The 23-year-old from George played her way into the top 10 at the Tong Hwa Golf Club with rounds 74 and 71 and cancelled two bogeys with two birdies for a final round 72.
The top 10 finish on one-over-par 217 propelled Smit to 13th on the current LAGT Order of Merit.
“The course was absolutely beautiful and really challenging, and given the incredible heat in Linkou, I was more than pleased to hold on for a top 10 finish,” Smit said.
“It was over 40 degrees Celsius every day and the hot conditions made it tougher than usual. They lengthened the course to make it quite open and really -interesting with the long irons.
“It was a pity that the greens were sluggish, but they were grainy, which heightened the challenge.”
As part of the pre-tournament hype, the organisers offered the competitors the chance to test drive a couple of Ferrari 548s and Lamborghini Aventadors.
“Driving the sports cars was undoubtedly the highlight of the week for me,” gushed Smit. “Until I can afford to buy my own, this experience will last me a few years until I can afford to buy my own.”
Smit will continue her Ladies Asian Golf Tour campaign at the Thailand Ladies Masters in Bangkok at the end of August.
PHOTO – Two-time Sunshine Ladies Tour winner Monique Smit; credit Luke Walker
