Chrisje de Vries of the Netherlands

Chrisje de Vries of the Netherlands and England’s Anna Scott carded opening rounds of four under par 69 on the South Course at La Manga Club in Cartagena, Murcia, Spain, on Sunday, to lead their half of the field at Ladies European Tour Pre-Qualifying School for the 2012 season.

The pair finished three strokes clear of six other players, namely the Swedish pair Elin Emanuelsson and Antonella Cvitan, New Zealander Caroline Bon, Sarah Jones of Wales, Spanish amateur Mireia Prat and Mary Mattson of the United States.

On the North Course, England’s Jodie Ewart and Lucy Williams share pole position after carding rounds of three under par 68. They are a stroke clear of compatriot Charlie Douglass and Valentine Derrey of France.

A total of 211 players have entered LET Qualifying School for the 2012 season, with the majority from England, followed by the USA and Sweden.

There are competitors from 44 nationalities in total including 10 from countries not yet represented on the LET: Brunei, Chile, Republic of China, Estonia, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Mexico, Namibia and Nigeria.

Qualifying School is being played over two stages. The Pre-Qualifying takes place from January 8-11, followed by Final Qualifying from January 15-19.

At Pre-Qualifying, entrants have been split into two fields: A and B. Field A will play the courses in the order of  North, South, North, South and Field B will play the courses in the order of South, North, South, North.

There are 72 holes scheduled per field with a cut to 35 and ties per field. Players who do not make the cut will be eligible for Membership in Category 11b. Every effort will be made to complete four rounds including the extension of play into the 12th January 2012, otherwise a result will be declared if only three or two rounds are possible.

At Final Qualifying, 90 holes of play are scheduled. The field will play over both the North and South Courses with the final round on the South. There will be a cut to the leading 50 players and ties after 72 holes.

Players who fail to make the 72 hole cut will be eligible for Membership in Category 11a.

After the final round the top 30 players will be eligible for Membership in Category 8a and will be ranked in final score order; if necessary a play-off will take place to establish 1st and 30th position.

After the final round players who have made the cut and finish in positions 31 and below will be ranked according to score and be eligible for Membership in Category 9b.

Except to establish 1st and 30th spot, a card count back will be used to rank all tied scores: best last 18 holes, best last 54 holes, best first 36 holes, best last 9, 6, 3, 2 and 1 holes (holes 10 to 18).

Any player who makes the cut but subsequently withdraws due to injury or illness will be offered the last position in category 9b. Every effort will be made to complete five (5) rounds including the extension of play into 20th January 2012, otherwise a result will be declared if only four (4) or three (3) rounds are possible.