Nature can be cruel and, at the Australian Women’s Classic, it reared its ugly head as the tournament was forced to be cancelled after just 18 holes due to heavy rainfall on Saturday night.
Following the heavy overnight rain, multiple course inspections were made on Sunday, but it was decided that the event could not get back underway and play couldn’t be completed at Bonville Golf Resort so Nicole Broch Estrup, Pei-Ying Tsai and Jess Whitting shared the title.
The tournament had begun on the 5th April, but the first round only saw an hour of action before there was a delay due to inclement weather. No further play happened on Friday and, consequently, the event was reduced from 54 holes to 36.
Thankfully, the first round of play was completed, with Broch Estrup, Tsai and Whitting carding six-under-par rounds of 66 to share a three-way tie at the top of the leaderboard. However, on Sunday, play was eventually called, with the trio announced as joint winners.
“I was on the range when I found out. I really wanted to go and play golf”, stated Broch Estrup. “It’s really unfortunate that we’re not playing, and we can’t do anything about the weather. I have things I want to improve so while we were waiting, I went to the range. It feels a bit weird. Hopefully, I will get another official win at some point this year, but I will take it.”
Whitting, who made a hole-in-one to win a $62,000 BMW back in January, commented: “I wanted a chance to go out there and prove myself, but then also this is a great outcome too because I could have gone out there and moved further down the ranks. It was out of my control, but I’m pretty excited. It’s a pretty cool thing to write down on the resume.”
Alongside the pair, Tsai added: “It feels a little bit weird because I wanted to play today. They are both very good players. It’s a good course, so it was also very exciting. It’s good (to be a winner), but it would be good to play.”
Because the tournament only managed 18 holes, it means it can’t be classed as an official Ladies European Tour event so the points will reportedly not be allocated to the Order of Merit and prize money will be unofficial.
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