Wales’ Lydia Hall, who last week won her first tournament on the Ladies European Tour at the ISPS Handa Ladies British Masters.

Congratulations to Lydia Hall, who last week won her first tournament on the Ladies European Tour at the ISPS Handa Ladies British Masters.

This result confirms Lydia’s place in the field for next month’s Ricoh Women’s British Open at Royal Liverpool from September 13 to 16 and elevates her to 24th on the LET’s ISPS Handa Order of Merit.

Lydia is fully exempt under category 7G: winners of any recognised LET or LPGA Tour event in 2012. 

There will be one more opportunity for non-exempt LET players to qualify under this category by winning the UNIQA Ladies Golf Open presented by Raiffeisen in Austria the week before the championship on September 7-9.

“It’s huge. It’s been one of my goals for the last few years, to be instantly qualified for the Open,” said Lydia.

“I won’t have to go to Pre-Qualifying or Final Qualifying and to do it in such style at the Buckinghamshire, to win the event and get straight to the British Open is huge. I’m excited. I played Hoylake about three weeks ago to get a feel for the course and it’s in great condition. I just can’t wait now.

“This is the first time I’ve got straight through. I played in 2008 at Sunningdale and I think in 2009 at Lytham through Final Qualifying.”

Congratulations also go to Beth Allen, Rebecca Artis and Trish Johnson, who are all fully exempt for the Ricoh Women’s British Open in category 7m: the leading three LET members in the ISPS Handa Ladies British Masters who are not otherwise exempt.

Beth finished second last week, a stroke behind Lydia, while Rebecca recorded her best result since joining the Ladies European Tour two years ago with a tied 3rd place finish alongside Trish Johnson and four other players.

Beth is now 22nd on the ISPS Handa Order of Merit, while Trish is 28th and Rebecca’s result elevates her to 35th position.

Final Qualifying will comprise one round of 18 holes at Caldy Golf Club on Monday 10th September 2012. The places available to make up the Championship field shall be determined by the number entered, who are exempt under Section 7. Ties for last places and alternates shall be decided by a sudden death hole-by-hole play-off immediately after the last card is returned.

For further details please see the LGU website: www.lgu.org.