The Florida based professional revealed that she had taken extra confidence from the fact that her father Wayne had won the European Tour School at La Manga Club in 1986.

“My dad actually won Q-School here back in ’86 and told me a little bit about the course, so I had some good feelings coming in here,” said Smith, who also plays on the Duramed Futures Tour.

“Today was a good day. The whole two weeks that I was here were really good; I played solid for two weeks straight. I put the scores on the board and that’s what I felt I needed to do.”

Finishing in third place was María José Uribe of Colombia, who likes to be known as “Mariajo”. The 19-year-old from the city of Bucaramanga carded a final round of 72 for a total of 11 under par, becoming the first active Colombian player on the Ladies European Tour. The LET has one other Colombian member: Maria Cecilia Saenz, who holds a Non-Playing Status.

Having been given a special dispensation to compete at the LET’s Qualifying School, Scottish amateur Carly Booth finished in 14th place and earned her full card. She stated that she will turn professional, becoming the Ladies European Tour’s youngest current member at the age of 17 years and six months.

She said: “I will turn pro as soon as this is pretty much done with. I probably didn’t play my best today but I still played solid enough to get a good score in. I’m pleased.”

Further down the leader board, five players tied for 29th place at two over par and competed in a play-off for the final two spots in membership category 8 on Tuesday morning.
Mollie Fankhauser from the USA and Cassandra Kirkland from France secured the last two full LET cards with birdies on the par-four seventh hole. Antonella Cvitan, Julie Tvede and Holly Aitchison earned membership in category 10a.

After the third round, completed on Monday, the cut to 50 players and ties fell to 52 players at six over par 225.

Those that missed out on a return to the Ladies European Tour included Stephanie Na, Kirsty S Taylor, Denise-Charlotte Becker, Pamela Feggans, Mianne Bagger, Frederique Seeholzer, Ana B Sanchez, Kiran Matharu, Eva Steinberger and Anna Knutsson.