GARCIA HOPING TO REPLICATE LAST YEAR IN JOBURG 

Nicole Garcia finished in a tie for third place at the 2022 Joburg Ladies Open and is hopeful to improve on that result this year. 

The 32-year-old produced rounds of 72 (-1), 71 (-2) and 71 (-2) at Modderfontein Golf Club last year which acted as a springboard for one of her finest seasons on the LET. 

Garcia finished 25^th on the 2022 Race to Costa del Sol and captained her team to victory twice at the Aramco Team Series events in London and Jeddah. 

But nothing beats playing at home and the South African is looking forward to the next two weeks on Tour. 

“Playing at home is always great, it’s comfortable,” she said. “I have my own space. It doesn’t necessarily feel like a tournament week, and it just makes it a really nice enjoyable tournament to be at, so I’m really glad we’ve got a couple of events here in South Africa. 

“There might be some people coming to watch, maybe a friend or too. I’m hoping on the weekend that I will have a little bit of support. 

“I probably can’t remember how last year went! It was the start of my season, and I had a really good season last year. It was me coming into good form for the season which was really nice. 

“I was injured and out for a few years before, so I hadn’t performed as I would like for quite a long time and then I really started to come into form in 2022 and hopefully I can keep it going into 2023.”

Garcia begins her first round of the Joburg Ladies Open at 12.25pm local time alongside Wales’ Becky Brewerton and Finland’s Tiia Koivisto. 

And the LET professional has been playing on the Sunshine Ladies Tour in recent weeks, but made her first LET appearance of the season at the Aramco Saudi Ladies International where she finished in a tie for 24^th place. 

That result has boosted Garcia’s confidence ahead of the next two events but she knows how much of challenge the golf course can provide. 

She explained: “My game has not been as I would like in the Sunshine Ladies Tour but I did play well in Saudi Arabia, which was my first LET event for the year, so that was quite a boost for me. Hopefully, I can carry out that form throughout the rest of the co-sanctioned season. 

“The front nine is pretty straightforward, but the back nine you have to think a little bit off of the tee boxes. It’s really strategic where you place your tee shot. The greens are so good so if you’ve got a good putting stroke, you’re going to make a few putts.”

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